Outer Maelstrom: Shinobi s Grasp
by Reva Kenai
Summary: (PROOFREADING DONE) A voice from Beyond has reached an Herald of hatred. He who plots takes a different choice that can seal the fate of the shinobi nations. A chance to know the uncanny eyes, and Fight Back!. (With some background from Cthulhu Mythos) (Naruto/Kurama/OC: Yagan. centric)
1. Arc one: Closed eyes) Dreaming

**Disclaimer: **I don´t own _Naruto_ by Masashi Kishimoto or the specific characters from the background provided by _Cthulhu mythos _by H. P. Lovecraft and the additions made by his collaborators. In this fic there are only a few elements from _Mythos_ and it does have a strong "existential horror" and mystery vibe, and also it mostly deals in ninjas interacting with monsters and aliens. So if it isn´t your cup of tea i suggest you keep looking for others fics.

Aditionally; this contains spoilers from the manga of _Naruto_, although this story diverges from canon very early.

Finally after lurking so much, this is the prologue for my first fanfic here; here hoping you guys enjoy it!

**-** " Speaking aloud and normally"-

- " _Incorporeal voice/ words heared while dreaming or hallucinating ; also a Jutsu or technique being entoned or used_ "-

- " **_Very deep and incorporeal voice_** "-

- ' Thoughts '-

* * *

_**First Arc: "Closed eyes"**_

_**Chapter 1: Dreaming and Remembering**_

* * *

( This book tells about the meaning of dreams. Mine was about a star falling into the darkness ˃

* * *

It was a rainy and stormy night in Konohagakure "the village hidden in the leaves", and one very bizarre for a blonde boy of 12 years old sleeping in his bedroom.

'This doesn´t feel like a normal dream'- thought, starting to become scared.

'Dammit! I´m trapped and everything is dark'- vaguely feeling as if he was being constricted by something.

A voice with a deep baritone and full of sorrow could be heard.

"_You and me were two mirrors, one facing the other"_

"_Now I know, that this awakened the power in my eyes"_

"_Even then I couldn´t stop you, you took her away from me"_

"_My sun, my life, my love"_

"_Her light remains inside our two sons"_

A pair of eyes with concentric rings surrounding the pupils and glowing with an ethereal purple light suddenly appeared.

'Holy ..!'- cursed the boy to himself.

"_Your existence won´t reach them, nor them and no one else!"_

"_I´ll make sure of it"_

The blue-eyed boy, dressed in gray pajamas and a goofy blue sleeping cap; woke up suddenly and started to franticly disentangle himself from his bed sheets, in which he had ended up enrolled, and then took a look outside the window. It was raining lightly upon the streets.

"What was that?!"- the boy started to breathe deeply to calm himself, just like one of his sensei at the Shinobi academy had told him in one occasion.

"That voice sounded too clearly, and those strange eyes …"- muttered to himself.

'I don´t think i´m going to be able to sleep after that'- he got up from bed and looking the alarm clock on the bed table it showed that it was 4:00 a.m. He yawned, still feeling tired.

"The classes start in four hours… I can already tell i´m going to be sleepy all day, and at every attempt for a little shut-eye Iruka-sensei is gonna throw a piece of chalk to my head"- The boy put an effort to pay attention in the classes that interested him, but there were some (like history) in which he could be found taking a nap along with Shikamaru, a classmate.

"And Kiba and the others are going to laugh at me again ... sigh"- outside the rain had just stopped. He went to open the window; but just then a succession of loud "thumps" could be heard from the roof.

"Oi !"- the blonde kid called, eyeing outside there were two ninja of Chunnin rank, wearing the dark blue clothes and green vest standard uniform, who jumped to a next rooftop visible from his apartment.

"Oh, sorry Naruto-san, we are in a hurry towards the hospital"- said the one who Naruto recognized as Kotetsu, that the Hokage had introduced to him nearly two weeks ago, and since then he greeted at the post near the entrance to the village from time to time.

Naruto couldn´t spot any wounds in the shinobi; even though there was a laboriousness in the movements of the one leaning on Kotetsu for support, and was scowling with his eyes closed and teeth clenching from pain.

"What happened Kotetsu-san? Can I help somehow?"- Naruto asked, slightly worried for the other man.

"Well kiddo .. in brief, Itsumo and I found Retsumaru-san here lying beside the road near the entrance; and he told us that in his return to the village he activated some trap that blew up and injured him with metal fragments .. and meanwhile he was unconscious somebody stitched his wounds incorrectly, and they got infected"- Kotetsu shook his head. "odd eh ? the injuries aren´t serious, they are shallow; but even then it mustn´t worsen. See you later Naruto"- the duo hopped to another rooftop and went out of sight.

'Weird …'- the boy watched them leave. "Whatever, when I have a chance i´ll ask hokage-jiji about that and the dream … I´ll try to get a little more sleep"- he told himself before resting his head on the pillow and gradually falling asleep.

-** Hokage´s Tower. Administrative Office -**

At the same time; the man known as "the Professor" and Third Hokage of Konoha, Sarutobi Hiruzen was reflecting alone in his office, sitting on his desk full of various documents and reports still to go through; nevertheless the tired leader found himself watching his village lightened by a full moon through the window.

"These last months truly had been trying and worrisome, only seconds to the weeks after the Kyuubi attack"- the third hokage sighed and then drank a sip of coffee to help keep himself awake for the coming all-nighter.

"Farmers of neighboring settlements concerned because of unfamiliar diseases devastating their livestock, missing cattle, sightings of shinobi from the new Otogakure near ours borders with Kusa, abduction of civilians by a rising religious cult, forest fires seemingly without cause … and those reports of suspecting of breach of security in the Forest of Death: Forbidden area 36 because of the partially devoured tigers"- he put three fingers between his eyes, trying and failing to prevent the headache.

Since that terrible day that the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konoha because of largely unknown reasons and was stopped heroically by the Fourth Hokage; a number of tragedies had begun to sprout periodically in villages and cities across the Elemental Nations, and after sending his more capable Shinobi to investigate, they only could report back that many of these incidents were related to groups of seemingly crazed people that acted unexpectedly and that came from settlements all over the continent; however, getting more info had proven to be a very difficult task, due to the delicate mental and physical condition of the captured prisoners brought for interrogation and the panic that the situation had provoked, especially in settlements located near the border.

The different daimyō ruling each country took notice of the severity of the circumstances, and in response had increased the security measures in the villages and cities: designating additional guards, hiring with greater frequency ninjas to patrol duties, increasing the budget for the police forces, among other steps.

The third Hokage turned to look at the reports on his desk

'Considering that this disaster begun that day … I have a feeling that the Kyuubi and that man are at least in part responsible .. but how all of this is connected'- closing his eyes he tried to remember in detail the events that he witnessed that dark day.

-** Twelve years ago. 10 of October: The Nine tail´s Dusk -****-**

-** Top of Konoha´s Defensive Wall -**

A strong breeze blew upon the top of the high wall surrounding Konohagakure, where two of the strongest shinobi that had sworn to protect it stood under a sky darkened by the cloudy sunset that would mark an event that would change history forever.

"According to the watch post at the village of Rylek the Kyuubi no Kitsune will reach us in a matter of minutes"- announced the Fourth and current Hokage, a tall young man with blue eyes and spiky blond hair.

"Our spies there confirmed the sighting of an unknown masked ninja following closely the trail of the Kyuubi; someway he seems to be controlling the Bijuu .. whatever his plan is, it can´t succeed"- said an ANBU shinobi kneeled to the left of the Hokage, adjusting his white bird mask.

"We have prepared ourselves as best as we could, the future of our home lies in the hands of all the warriors of the village; now i´m going to finish organizing the teams and squads, and after that to check and reinforce the Guardian Seal"- said the resolute previous Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen besides the ANBU.

"That the Will of Fire be with all of us"- the Fourth Hokage nodded to his mentor, who disappeared to the forest below. 'We are going to face someone who not only was able to bypass with ease the wards from the Third in order to almost kill my son and kidnap my wife, but also knew of the weakness of her seal and used it to allow himself to engage us directly with the strongest tailed beast … if I hadn´t been quick enough to save her at the last moment and take her to a medic ...'

The breeze had turned into almost hurricane winds, and the heavens to hues of red and orange with the sunlight filtered by the clouds; and after only 20 minutes it was possible to catch sight of the nine tails of the Kyuubi thrashing the earth and destroying the forest in the horizon, approaching the walls of Konoha with a frightening speed.

"You truly are my best weapon, nonetheless … you are only demon´s chakra and will that can be twisted. I know that those double-faced traitors haven´t yet lost hope; after all I saw how they copied and stole knowledge of sorcery from that damned place"- said a masked and shady figure with a venomous voice, standing upon a distant hill to the south of Konoha. 'If I had summon it inside the village instead, and the spells had interfered with me .. my patience and caution shall be rewarded'.

"Two can reject the same symbol; however with the influence from the Queen of the Moon it shall turn upon the Earth. THERE´S NO STOPPING IT!"- continued with a slightly unhinged tone the man in whose only visible eye there was the crimson iris and three tomoe of the _Sharingan_. Quickly starting a sequence of hand seals equal and different form the well-known by the shinobi under the heaven and what lies beyond.

_'The seal of the Snake with bleeding palms, exalts the servant of the Crawling Chaos'_

_'The seal of the Dragon calls forth the fiery void that comprehends the hatred of the Kyuubi'_

_'The seal of the Rat with two fingers broken, scurries beneath the eyes of the demon'_

_'The seal of the Snake closes the cycle'_

Clapping once, the man with the orange mask looked to a red star barely noticeable in the sky and intoned "_Forsaken art: Autā kyōmei-hō_"

Suddenly, the Kyuubi no Kitsune snarled and came to a stop with a great crash; his nine tails shifting to the forefront and prepared to launch a _bijuudama_, the unstable chakra orb corrupted by an ancient god.

"The barrier with the Guardian Seal has risen up in the way of the attack of the Kyuubi; we only have one more contingency measure so we cannot allow the Kyuubi to reach the village for even a moment. Prepare the signal for the counter-attack, stall him for as long as you can"- at the top of the wall, the blonde Hokage ordered to the team of four ANBU in front of him. 'I can´t count on that medic saving Kushina; my love …just hang on a little more'.

"Hai! Hokage-sama"-The ANBU responded and vanished from sight.

The dreadful black sphere was shot, obliterating and setting on fire everything on it´s path, until it clashed against a barrier made of earth and stone, with a massive symbol of a circle containing a five-pointed star with a flaming tongue at the center engraved in it with ink. A thunderous uproar was heard for kilometers around when the Seal glowed with a blue light, emitted a shockwave, and the _Bijuudama_ was reflected back.

-** Kyuubi´s Mindscape -**

In the absolute darkness, there was only cold …and agony.

'NOOO! … almost free at last .. THOSE EYES, THOSE DAMNED EYES RUINED EVERYTHING! '- Murderous anger had begun to bubble up from within.

"GRRAAAAAAAAAW!"- the terrible roar traveled in the emptiness.

'What is this?! I can´t .. '- the Kyuubi barely was able to look down at himself. Ghostly and scarlet stakes and chains were restraining him, piercing between his collarbone, his stomach, legs and tails; anchoring him with his back against a black metallic sphere.

"I WON´T TAKE THIS !"- He shook fiercely trying to break free from the chains, but despite all of his efforts, they didn´t budge an inch.

His howling of pain and roars of rage and indignation were becoming increasingly more desperate; till his sight aligned with an extremely distant scarlet point, shining brightly and suspended high, far and above.

"_**You see, I see you screaming"**_- Rumbled loudly a voice from the nothingness.

"WHO ARE …?!"-Growled the livid nine tails.

"_**The One who dreams them, so their Horror can become real**_"- resonated the voice in a disturbing monotone.

The Kyuubi became disconcerted, what type of being would have this vast and seemingly almost mechanical presence?. A trick perhaps?.

"Another human? - he asked dubious.

"_**ALL TO THEIR CONVENIENCE!, THEIR MISERY!, THEY SHALL BURN INSIDE OF ME!"-**_ Rumbled again the voice, this time full of spite.

"_**Other beings to them are nothing but food to their greed, selfishness and fear of that which is uncertain**_"- continued the far-off speaker.

The Bijuu could recognize the deep hatred that had come unbridled then; a little astonished due to realizing that they essentially shared the same opinion about humankind.

"One of them has managed to enslave me, again"- The Kyuubi growled, cursing the crimson eyes again.

"_**I am too far away to be able to melt your chains**_"- the voice answered the silent question. "_**They have too many different types of chains with which to bind you. Turn your gaze towards the core of your captors instead, they have already failed because of it in several dreams, worlds**_"- The voice was starting to become quieter.

The Kyuubi was definitely astonished, he wasn´t too sure of believing the sinister voice. It stated with certainty that in other "worlds" he had managed to be released, achieving the freedom he desired so much.

"_**Between the worlds there is a void where many and diverse beings had been exiled from their original dreams. I have just taken one, and send him to where you are. Survive your own wrath and speak to him**_"- The voice no longer could be heard. Meanwhile the scarlet star began to increase in size, quickly becoming a black sun with a blazing scarlet crown. Then the Kyuubi no Kitsune roared defiantly with all his might to it, till the Cimmerian star engulfed him, and the pain at last subsided.

- **Small underground shelter near the west gate of Konohagakure **-

'How i wish Tsunade-sama was here'- Shizune was a teenager with dark shoulder-length hair and gentle brown eyes; she had just come back to Konoha temporarily in order to run some errands and actualize her data and status as was required periodically from each Leaf-shinobi, interrupting her studies with the greatest medic in the continent.

"Please resist for a while longer Kushina-san!- she urged the red-headed woman with her in the stone-walled and dim-lit room they were in; meanwhile her hands were glowing with an ethereal green light over the body of her patient, which a little time ago had also given birth and lost the bijuu sealed within her.

"Ah ..Ah ..Minato, my Naruto-kun"- said panting the by now fragile woman.

"Your son is safe, hang in there !"- Shizune watched her cough blood. "Hokage-sama and the village are counting with you, he needs you!"- she continued.

'Minato .. even if I could stop the Kyuubi together with you, you are going to sacrifice yourself with the Dead Demon Seal'- Kushina closed her eyes. 'You can´t turn your back to neither your son nor his future home'- tears started to appear in her green eyes. 'We won´t be able to watch him grow up, or stay besides him'- she hiccupped. 'So many things to tell them .. please let me see my boys one last time'- she prayed from the futon in which she was lying.

Suddenly, a monstrous rumble could be heard; reverberating and making the entire underground shelter quake violently, tables got upturned and the walls started to crack.

"AAH!"- Shizune covered Kushina with her body, trying to protect her; waiting for the earthquake to finish, which occurred after seemingly endless five minutes.

'What was that? The battle against the Kyuubi must be more than ten kilometers from here'- Shizune was extremely worried.

"Please … that everyone in the village remains ok"- she murmured to herself.

-**Point Cero of the explosion. Forest outside Konoha, near the hills to the south** -

'So this is the power of a Bijuu'- an ANBU with the mask of the Boar was crouched down on a trench that he had excavated to protect his team from the gargantuan shockwave unleashed by the explosion that had just illuminated everything with a white light, and that had also released crimson lightning upon the forest and a secondary minor explosion near them, as well as started numerous fires.

The ANBU captain turned around and saw amongst the trees the flashes that signaled the beginning of the counter-attack. His brow wrinkled behind his mask, and gestured to the rest of his team, that went to jump between the trees with him.

'This worries me, the presence (Killer Intent) of the Kyuubi is too strong and it gets progressively worse getting near him. Many teams had to abort and leave the battlefield because they could no longer resist it; some even killed themselves or lost their minds'- Thought the captain. 'We have managed to hold on, and we can also count on the Sandaime and Hokage-sama. We can´t fail'- he steeled his resolve.

'Finally'- His team could see some others, one of them with the Sandaime, the "Professor"; all of them speedily synchronizing their attacks.

"_Water Release: Wōtā jetto_ "- some shinobi shot pressurized streams of water at the legs of the snarling beast.

"_Earth Release: iwa no sentō_ "- a multitude of rock spears rose from the ground and flew to the belly and chest of the monster.

"_Fire release: Karyuu endan_"- the head of the Kyuubi was bombarded with focused explosions.

The Kyuubi thrashed about fiercely and with a colossal strength; although his movements were frantic and convulsive, like those of a wild animal that has been wounded and surrounded. 'Strange'- the Third started to have a bad feeling about this.

'Wait! … are those black leaks coming from the Kyuubi? '- his eyes widened in surprise, 'that was it! the Bijuu was dying! If the plan of the Yondaime doesn´t succeed, he will simply reform after some years and could well attack the village again'- the Third Hokage mused to himself.

Just in that moment he felt the need to evade, jumping and rolling forward to a burning clearing at the same time that a masked and cloaked man appeared behind him and almost managed to stab him with a blood stained kunai; prepared to press his assault the masked assailant begun a sequence of hand seals, but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Minato "the Yellow Flash" with his white hokage coat, who attempted to trade blows with him but had to teleport himself a few meters back to escape his grab and try to absorb him in the spiral distortion he had started to create.

'He can make himself intangible, but he must become solid to attack; … I know what I must do'- The current Hokage and Yondaime of Konoha had then cold and calculative eyes.

At that instance, the crazed and berserk Kyuubi roared and some of his tails viciously crushed various ANBU teams, and set ablaze the area surrounding the site of impact.

'This must end now'- Minato couldn´t let this prolong anymore. "Sandaime, there´s no more time, finish bringing her here !"- He ordered.

The Third watched him apprehensively through the veil of flames separating them, and nodded stiffly before gazing briefly at the masked man and vanishing in the forest, where some plants had started to turn from green to black.

"This is the end for your village of hypocrites!"- the masked man dressed in black accelerated towards the Yondaime, who did the same towards his opponent.

The battle of speed was resolved in an instant.

"_Rasengan_!"- An orb of swirling blue chakra blew up upon the back of the man with the _Sharingan_; who then appeared wounded and haggard outside the crater, however he didn´t manage to escape. The Hokage stabbed him suddenly and at the same time completed the seal he had prepared on his opponent simultaneously with his last attack.

"I see that you´re going to remove my control over the Kyuubi"- the masked man said contemplatively.

"It´s already done"- answered the Hokage.

"Many doors remain open to me, this world will succumb"- the cloaked man disappeared in a swirl in the air.

'.. I have a feeling that he wasn´t lying, and now .. '- Minato turned to look at the Kyuubi, who had already eliminated almost all of the remaining ANBU.

From the trees the Sandaime came accompanied by Kushina.

"It won´t be long before the presence of the Kyuubi overcome our defenses"- Minato looked at his wife. "Remember what happened to your first home .., so our son doesn´t live that .."- He told her dissimulating his grief, because he knew he couldn´t accompany Naruto.

"I know Minato-kun … since we spoke about this you don´t stop repeating it"- she said calmly with a voice loaded with sadness.

"Then it´s time"- he said to her, and then she put her hands in the ground and gathered her chakra for her final technique.

Minato hurriedly summoned Gamabunta, leader of the Toads.

"Gamabunta!, I need that you distract the Kyuubi for only a few seconds"- He said immediately after the smoke dissipated.

The great toad in the blue Haori removed his webbed hands from his head. "I don´t know for how long I can endure this, i´m not a miracle worker"- every second had to count, with a mighty jump he clashed his sword against the titanic claws of the nine tails, that immediately started to pierce and liquefy through the giant sword.

"Minato now!"- shouted Gamabunta. The earth trembled briefly, and then countless ethereal blue chains were shot from the ground and restrained the Kyuubi, meanwhile Gamabunta disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

With the Tailed Beast immobilized by the technique that originated from the back of her wife, Minato swiftly completed a sequence of hand seals and clapped once.

"_Fuinjutsu: Shiki Fūjin/ Dead Demon Consuming Seal_"

A ghostly and appalling apparition manifested behind him and one of it´s clawed hands extended, going through his body and reaching the Kyuubi.

"GRRAAAAAAOOOW"- the nine tails howled .. and the Sandaime barely managed to evade one of his tails due to the shrinking of the Kyuubi.

The Yondaime took the chance and summoned the ceremonial table with his child on it.

"Cough .. cough"- Kushina coughed more blood, and at the same time her technique weakened. The deranged Kyuubi raised his released claw, intent on shredding apart his previous host and the child besides her.

"Minato !"- shouted the Third, trying to escape the forest fire in which he found himself.

A frightful wet and tearing sound resounded in that clearing. The claw of the beast had speared through the body of the father and the mother, preventing it from getting to their son.

With the sealing technique still active, the Fourth intoned: "_Trigram Seal_"

'Only a little more of our chakra, I must accomplish it'- the Hokage gave it his all.

With a last roar what remained of the legendary Kyuubi no Kitsune started to be sealed inside of the newborn, that didn´t stop crying.

The Shinobi known as the "Professor" could only watch how Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, together whispered with hope their last wishes for their son; and with a last breath, they leaved the world behind.

It was with heavy steps and the eyes clouded with sorrow that Sarutobi Hiruzen walked to the baby, and took him in his arms, while all around them the columns of smoke rose towards the heaven.

**- Present time. 25 of October -**

-** Hokage´s tower. Main reception Office **-

'Taking into account the occurrences that were reported by the survivors and what he had seen with his own eyes, he could enumerate some anomalies that remained a mystery'- the old Hokage mused to himself. 'The apparent capabilities showed by the masked infiltrator, the unusual phenomena associated with the abnormally strong presence of the Kyuubi and that explosion … mmh. How could that man so easily go through my safeguards and precautions?'- He reflected for a while.

His expression changed when his eyes turned upon a framed photograph on his desk. There was a mature and serious woman, whose long hair had started to turn grey.

"My Biwako-koi"- said the Sandaime to himself, remembering his wife that had been killed when the horrible events of that day had begun.

'So many tragedies that day, the survivors of the quake that affected the village still had to continue to face the demonic presence that had fallen upon us all'- thought with sad eyes, and a feeling that worse calamities were approaching.

"Kami .. whomever of you who can hear me, I beg of you to help us endure the times that will come"- He prayed, he would be answered.

* * *

**Translations of the names of techniques being used:**

- "_Forsaken art: Autā kyōmei-hō = Outer Resonance technique "_

_- "Water Release: Wōtā jetto = Water Jet "_

_- "Earth Release: iwa no sentō = Rock Spire "_

_- "Fire Release: Karyuu endan = Flame Bullet "_

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**A/N: **And there you got it. The events from twelve years into the past resemble those from _Naruto_ canon; in the manga those would be in chapters 500-502, but with a different twist. Until the next time.


	2. Arc one: Closed eyes) Cry

**Outer Maelstrom: Shinobi´s Grasp**

**Disclaimer: **I don´t own _Naruto_ by Masashi Kishimoto or the _Cthulhu mythos _by H. P. Lovecraft and his collaborators. Though this fanfic and the OC´s are of my own creation.

I´m really lacking publicity for this fic *sadface*; well, admittedly the references to _Cthulhu mythos _in this fanfic will not be the main point, for a time. Anyways, i´ll continue considering whether or not to move it to Naruto/ X-overs to see if it better belongs there.

From this chapter onwards i´ll be trying something different: the translation for the techniques will go after a slash, together with the heard name of the skill. Please let me know what you think.

**-** " Speaking aloud and normally"-

- " _Incorporeal voice/ words heared while dreaming, remembering or hallucinating ; also a Jutsu or technique being intoned or used_ "-

- " _**Very deep and incorporeal voice**_ "-

- ' Thoughts '-

* * *

_**First Arc: "Closed eye**__**s"**_

_**Chapter 2: Cry in the darkness **_

* * *

( What a cultural shock it was … ˃

(You were just a fool. ˃

* * *

A young man with a brown ponytail and a horizontal scar on his nose, dressed in the standard chunnin uniform, entered a room full of boisterous children.

"Good morning class"- the teacher Iruka greeted his students accompanied by the teacher-assistant Mizuki, interrupting their chattering in the classroom.

"Good morning Iruka-sensei"- they chorused, and finished taking their seats.

The teacher then proceeded to take assistance. The children were promptly answering when they were called by their name, until the last name on the list.

"Uzumaki Naruto"- Iruka took his eyes from the list and noticed that Naruto was sleeping fitfully on his desk. "NARUTO!"- he called loudly one more time.

"Uhh .. Ah! .. here!"- Naruto awoke more quickly than usual and answered. Iruka watched him slightly worried, deciding to talk to him afterwards he decided to continue.

"As you already know, today we have two hours of target practice with throwing weapons, followed by light sparring and reviewing of the last Geography lesson after that and then lunch. However, there had been a change. One of the advisors of the Community Service Committee has been invited to come this afternoon to speak with you about the importance and necessity of the effort provided by the shinobi of the village in activities of the community, like helping to put out domestic fires and provide security during events and festivities ". Some of the students groaned.

"But we already know that stuff!"- a wild looking boy with red tattoos on his cheeks and wearing a grey sweater and hood named Kiba called to the teacher.

"I wasn´t finished! Now be silent and listen. He previously was the advisor of the major of the settlement of Rylek, before it was raided and burned completely a couple of years ago. Some of the ideas and contributions that he brought here in Konoha had been applied with great results and had earned him considerable respect. He has a different point of view about those activities that he is going to share with you, and also is going to talk about particular specializations in which a shinobi can dedicate himself long-term or only temporarily, that we haven´t discussed in class before."- continued the teacher.

'Man, I am lucky that they are going to be talking about this stuff '- Naruto decided to take the opportunity that would be presented to him. 'Yesterday, when I asked what were the village committees that would help me when I became Hokage, Mizuki-sensei yelled at me, and didn´t explain a thing to me in the end'- he was sick of the teachers, except Iruka- sensei, getting upset everytime he asked a question; it was like they didn´t want him to learn what they were teaching for his entire previous first try to graduate the Academy, and this year they were doing the same. 'So far, each time i meet anyone not from the village they treat me normally, at least for a while. I hope this guy from Rylek can help me learn this stuff'- slightly hurt because of his instructors but giddy with anticipation, he looked a little more awake now.

"Now then, let´s go to the training ground so the class can begin .."- Iruka and Mizuki proceeded to guide the children outside.

**- Underground secret base to the southwest and near to Konohagakure –**

Walking a dim-lit hall with walls of stone, an elderly man with most of his body covered in bandages and supporting himself with a cane had a stern and contemplative look on his face.

'27 new immigrants have arrived from Rylek and it´s surroundings to live in Konoha this month, mmhm .. finally it´s slowing down'- the senior advisor Danzo Homura had paid attention to the influx of people coming to Konoha for a new chance, after the last pillaging and burning of the settlement of Rylek two years ago; and even if he understood the economic effects this would have in the village, the true prize laid in the books of arcane knowledge adamantly written and guarded by a sect hidden in their midst. Through different means Konohagakure had been taking possession of these texts and their forbidden knowledge for years now, and he and his Elite hidden force ROOT had been making sure that this knowledge doesn´t reach the other Hidden Shinobi Villages. Some members of the sect from Rylek had been identified, allowing him to track these arcane books that gave the cultist that wielded them terrifying means of defense.

One of his ROOT agents cloaked in black appeared besides him, gave him a folder, and vanished just as Danzo was entering a plain room with only a chair and a desk. After sitting, he took a long look at the folder and the photo of the new identified member of the sect .. and smirked. "Even i thought that you weren´t one of them, and you were under heavy scrutiny for over one year; for quite some time I have wanted to know where these arcane arts truly come from. And i´ll convince you to tell me this and more .. consultant"- the senior mused to himself and started to make his plan.

**- Area 36: Forest of Death, near the fence that separates it from the village of Konoha –**

So hungry, the pain in his stomach seemed to sap all of his strength. "W_hat do you think of this? Sweet and yummy isn´t it? Here have some more"_. He could barely remember the slightly tanned woman with the long dark hair and the warm silver eyes that gave her life for him, her son with a smile ... but it was so difficult, it had been too long a time.

So scared, he saw once a masked one take a baby from a just slain woman and tell his companions Mission Accomplished in a monotone voice; it still troubled him not intervening then and there. 'I´m near a place full of those masked people, I can´t be overly cautious'- This still didn´t make sense even to him; if he ran and hide never to be seen again, they wouldn´t catch him, fumble with his insides trying to know what´s what, or exceedingly worse. But he kept stealing from them, trying to learn more of their language, attempting to trade food with them.

So alone, it had been two moon cycles since he had spoken with someone. 'There´s no meaning, no merit in anything i´ve been doing these years .. I can only hope that will change before I lose it completely, now I must focus'- the child was malnourished, but this was hard to tell because of his finely honed build and that he had thin old bandages covering his mouth, neck, then from his back going under his right armpit to the left side of his hip, and around his belly; and was wearing ragged brown shorts and a bandanna made with only a vine and some leaves and feathers. Hidden in the shadow of a tree and crouched behind some bushes, one could barely see his slightly tanned skin and his more repulsive trait: a few large black veins that slightly surfaced from the skin, running from his back to his arms, chest and legs. His black hair almost reached his shoulders and was very wild-looking; and from the darkness where he was lurking, his eyes with golden irises were trained on a tiger that was resting on a rock on the glade.

At the distance between the two, only 12 steps, the fearsome beast should have smelled or heard him already. However it couldn´t, and the boy dashed at it from the side like a wraith while the tiger could only turn it´s head to him. The tip of a wooden sword with black veins embedded in it, plunged deep into the tiger´s neck; who roared and frantically tried getting up in order to rend it´s attacker to pieces. However the two-handed lunge was immediately followed with a vicious one-handed slash with a serrated knife to the claw nearest to the retreating child-monster. The tiger growled, and despite the critical bleeding managed to get up one last time, before a brutal overhead slash from above with the wicked sword slammed against it´s head.

The standing hunter sheathed his blades and kneeled near where the tiger´s blood was pooling. 'Thanks, I will not misuse it'- now he had to separate the skin that he could use, and cut pieces of meat to smoke in the spot he had prepared deeper in the forest. He walked to a tree closer to the fence, his barefoot steps always abnormally silent, to take some vines and dry branches that he would need later; his mind starting to go someplace else. Turning around he went back to finish what he came to do here.

So distracted and weakened, he didn´t notice walking onto a patch of grass a little different from the surroundings; suddenly both of his feet sunk 50 inches into the ground, falling into a shallow trap with poisoned steel caltrops at the bottom.

**- Hokage´s Tower. Main Reception Office –**

The elder Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen had a determined look on his face; recently he had finally pieced together various measures he could implement in order to begin to tackle some of the problems that had been affecting his country and the rest of the Elemental Nations. Over his desk, he prepared and signed a scroll for an important task to Tsunade, the greatest medic-nin: to determine if there were compounds found in the plant samples from the Black Forest surrounding Konohagakure, also in the blood samples from the seemingly crazed captives that had raided some small settlements in Fire country. After all, these attacks began shortly after the Nine tail's Dusk, and there was that strange and massive corruption that expanded extensively from the spot of the battle against the Kyuubi, blackening the leaves of many plants in the forest and eventually leading to their withering; so there was likely a connection between the occurrences.

"Hokage-sama, the next meeting in the list is with the dignitary from Rylek. Shall I tell him to come in?"- asked Sasaki, a middle-aged woman wearing a plain yukata and with long black hair, that worked as one of his assistants and had just entered the room.

"Yes, of course –"- the Hokage had to interrupt himself when unexpectedly, a loud and terrifying roar like a mix between that of a tiger´s and a person´s could be heard from outside the tower.

After a moment, the door opened again, and a masked shinobi entered before bowing slightly in respect.

"Hokage-sama! sorry for the interruption, but there had been an incident that urgently needs your presence"- wearing an animal mask, the shinobi turned briefly in the direction of the assistant.

"Of course, explain the situation on the way"- Sarutobi then turned to his aide. "Please postpone the meeting for tomorrow, Sasaki-san" – then he and the other shinobi used the _shunshin no jutsu_ to vanish from the office.

Appearing over the Hokage´s monument, the two ninjas quickly followed the road behind the monument to the fenced area of the forest.

"Yamato-san, what is the problem?"- the Hokage had sealed his coat and hat into a scroll, and was into his combat clothes; while the two of them continued their debriefing while running.

"The operation planned by Anko-san to catch whoever had been breaching the training area 36 had paid off. The trap activated and signaled the nearest ANBU teams at the moment; when three four-men teams arrived they confronted and wounded a strange tanned kid with glowing eyes, he fled surprisingly fast but was successfully corralled into 2 more teams coming from the village."- Yamato had received all this info by radio, and it was hard to believe for him. "However, the kid easily rushed and knocked out the 8 of them using some sort of speed technique that released blue-green sparks everywhere, and entered the village proper; Anko-san and her friend Kurenai-san are currently pursuing and engaging him, they tell me they had managed to drive him back towards the training grounds east from our position and are fighting him there"- they bounded towards the path to the right.

'To run all the way there in such a short moment' "we have to hurry then, the teams patrolling that sector will delay him"- they had to help them capture him, if he was a spy they couldn´t let him escape.

**- Training ground 4, inside of Konohagakure –**

'This isn´t fun anymore, the paralytic poison in the caltrops isn´t working'- a kunoichi wearing a brown trench coat and little underneath was unsuccessfully trying to entangle the scared-out-of-his-mind child with shuriken connected to wires.

"Anko, hold him still for a sec !"- another kunoichi, with long black hair and crimson irises, was a distance away; throwing senbon needles and shuriken to restrict the movements of the incredibly hard-to-get-a-lock-on kid that was continuously evading and parrying barehanded, while she prepared a chain of genjutsu that would guarantee the end of this battle.

"Dakara etne ! Please stop it! ..please"- the raspy voice came from the unusual looking child, who stopped for a moment in a stance with his body turned to the side while facing both of them, his knees slightly bended and his hands raised in a loose guard.

The two kunoichi noticed his tears and panic-stricken face; as well as the numerous bloody gashes where the ANBU had managed to slash him with their swords. Somehow, the lacerations below his knees and in his feet had turned to an ashen gray and stopped bleeding.

"How is it possible? .. what was a little kid like you doing in the Forest of Death?"- the red-eyed kunoichi was surprised that she finally could understand something he said, and couldn´t help but to feel some pity for the suffering boy.

The child relaxed a little his guard and squinted his eyes, he had barely understood some words that she had said. Meanwhile, Anko discretely made three hand seals behind her back.

"Kurenai, Now !" "_seigen no jutsu/ restriction technique_"- the golden-eyed boy abruptly stiffened and released a soundless scream like he was being electrocuted, his body and Anko´s glowing with a very faint blue light.

Disturbed by the scene, nonetheless Kurenai finished her hand seals, weaving a combination of genjutsu to disable his senses and his mobility, feeling them take hold. But had to stop when she noticed the danger Anko was in.

A beastly roar erupted from the throat of the young one, who was openly crying now while grabbing his head. His eyes started glowing an intense red, and looking in the general direction of Anko. "SELEHAA! "- a simple, quick movement of his hand, and an explosion of earth and dust threw the kunoichi back.

Kurenai hadn´t seen such a sudden detonation before, and then she realized that the child had become a blur, already a couple of meters from Anko.

"ANKO, NOO!"- Kurenai dashed to save her, although she knew she wouldn´t make it in time.

'Dammit!, my leg'- the monster-child then plowed right into her; but instead of being send flying, only a shower of splinters fell onto her attacker, who never turned back and went straight towards the village.

'I think I set a new record for the fastest seal less _kawarimi_ just now'- Mitarashi Anko was sitting on the branch of a nearby tree, looking how the tiny shrimp went rampaging through the middle of one of the main streets, chaotically colliding with people and bouncing back from buildings.

"I think you broke him, Nai-chan"- Anko deadpanned to her friend, who sighed in relief at seeing she was ok.

"I don´t understand, it seems as if every jutsu we use on him doesn´t have the expected effect"- Kurenai slumped a little at having lost their chance to capture him, after fighting him for so long.

"He is stupidly fast, but I noticed something .. his movements, to achieve that kind of speed and strength he relies on using bursts of effort and ricocheting of things .."- Anko idly checked the sounds coming from her neck-attached radio to see how the chase was going, and started to tend to her bruised leg.

Kurenai put her hands on her hips "aren´t you worried in the least for the people he keeps colliding into?"- that boy was rushing too dangerously quickly, sometimes even on all-fours.

Anko shrugged "take a better look .. he is indeed hurting them when he glances of them, but even then i think he is trying to avoid hurting them too much; he just passed through a park and didn´t steamroll any toddler, that speaks for itself. Also, It´s like he is a blind berserker that somehow tries to avoid collision when things get too near him"- Anko finished bandaging her right leg. "Anyways trust me, the ANBU or some other shinobi who can engage him in the crowd will stop him. He´s too wounded, making it easier to track him; and finally, the fact that they found something resembling a hunter´s cabin in the Forest of Death tells my gut that he isn´t a spy .. maybe just a somewhat crazy homeless shrimp with a blood limit".

"… I´m sure you are just tired of chasing him everywhere, trying to hit him while he runs away"- Kurenai sighed. She knew they were both already low in chakra from arriving from an A-ranked mission, and fighting this kid for so long. Despite of this, she couldn´t risk that child leaving the village before confirming he wasn´t a spy.

"Anyways, you can keep sharing the tidbits of info we could get on him with the others through the radio channels; i´m going to the east gate to stop him if he attempts to escape by there"- Kurenai then bounded across the field, meeting with the Hokage and Yamato before entering the residential district of the village; and then she explained their discoveries to the Hokage, before going to confront the intruder.

**- Residential district of Konohagakure –**

In the streets, there was chaos everytime the villagers caught sight of the speeding dark blur with yellow eyes that randomly was lashing out and tearing chunks of the walls with his hands. "Waaah! a demon!"- some of the people on his path threw themselves to the sides to avoid him.

"Roger, we almost have got him. Follow the signal of team Eagle and cut him off !"- the ANBU commander and the other shinobi teams were getting near him and coordinating efforts by radio, at the same time that the kid sharply turned to a side street and started to climb and jump between the walls almost like a squirrel.

"Inbound, this is Oni team´s captain; to all others teams, maintain your course and speed, he went right into our ambush, seize him at the first chance"- the ANBU captain received, and together with his team attempted to corner him throwing kunai and shuriken.

Some of the projectiles found it´s mark, but only glanced off from his arms and back, and then hit or shattered the glass of windows nearby. All of a sudden, an ANBU seemed to materialize from a spot in the wall in front of where the child landed; and with a mighty horizontal swing of his tanto sword, he drew a new red line on his left leg. The boy stumbled a little, but didn´t stop and hastily jumped to the roof of another building, altering his course.

"Damn! how that didn´t maim him?"- the ANBU jumped from the wall and joined the chase.

They followed the blur when he descended to an alley, falling onto a closed dumpster, unknowingly going to a dead-end.

Suddenly an ANBU appeared by his side and slashed at his neck, but the jungle-boy had started to jump before the shinobi completed his movement, leaping over the sword, rolling after falling and never breaking his stride. However, with his head at a low level, he didn´t gain much momentum before another ANBU ahead of him threw low a bunch of kunai with an ethereal blue edge. Extending both of his legs, the child ended up airborne for a moment, the weapons passing below him, then he did a handstand and completed the vertical spin with a rushed fluidity, accelerating even more when his feet touched the ground, performing a fierce acrobatic display. Abruptly, this same ANBU coming from the front threw down a smoke bomb while suddenly retreating. The very moment the kid exited the gray cloud, a veritable rain of senbon was inches from him; having sharply turned and accelerated to his limits again in the haze, he evaded the steel needles with his preternatural senses, and went down the dark corridor with a wall at the end.

"_Varase ejha´t/ Hinge breaker_"- almost blurring completely from sight he jumped high to the building to his left, and ricocheted down and towards the middle of the wall upfront, as if launching a kick towards it.

From the other side, a low thunderclap was heard together with the crumbling only of a small part of the low section of the wall in a cloud of dust and blue-green sparks. And the charging boy ran from the dust on to an empty street; a good distance between him and 2 teams of ANBU, Kurenai, Yamato, the Hokage in person, and the East Gate of Konoha.

'I have already released my genjutsu; why isn´t he returning to normal? '- Kurenai was worried; and together with the team brought by the Hokage they had to stop the situation from getting out of hand.

Growling and with his teary eyes again glowing red, the panicked and wicked being rushed forward, swiftly drawing his sword in a reverse-grip and holding it to the front. However, midway he was engaged by the 2 ANBU captains, which appeared at both of his sides. Narrowly dodging a diagonal slash by one with a Tanto, and parrying the stabbing kunai of the other at the same instant; he was in no position to avoid the next assault.

"_Burittsu / blitz_"- the afterimage of a third ANBU appeared behind and close to him after having slashed his back deeply, and cutting his bandages there; finishing to fade completely in a moment.

Dark red blood splattered over the ANBU captains, who prepared to jump back to encircle and wait for this intruder to fall down. Nonetheless, before they could get enough distance; a sudden turn and jerk of the body and arm of the struggling monster-child made the tip of his sword slash into the belly of the first ANBU captain to his right, describing a deadly and crimson arc in the air, and then it also tore at the right leg of the ANBU captain to his left and with a kunai in hand.

"AAARRGH!"- the two captains went down screaming, it felt as if someone had poured some acid into their wounds. Promptly, they were _kawarimied_ to safety.

Seeing her teammates fall, the female ANBU that was hiding in one of the buildings overlooking the street witnessed the demonic visage of the heavily bleeding dark-skinned boy with a knee on the ground and glowing scarlet-eyes, wielding the strange sword similar to a _bokken_; this juggernaut compressed into a child-form had done bizarre feats since they began chasing him, and so she couldn´t let this despicable creature, that was now looking at her, escape from here.

"_Kage shuriken bunshin no jutsu/ shuriken shadow clone technique_ "- thousands of shurikens and kunais flew from her throw. Immediately the child leaped to the left, evading some, and with circular and lightning-quick movements of his sword he started to deflect all the projectiles that he could. But his already warped senses finished failing him; and an unseen kunai amongst the many, that had a burning and especially potent explosive tag, bypassed his guard.

Everything ended as soon as it had begun.

The Hokage and everyone with him, guarding the gate at all costs, widened their eyes and then took cover before the fiery explosion was unleashed in the middle of the street. The ground shook with the force of such a blast; and once they could take a look, they saw multiple fires beginning to die down and a massive column of smoke obscuring everything.

One of the ANBU used a wind technique to dissipate the smoke; and then they could see that there was no body, only the burning fragments of a wooden sword with messy black threads still connecting them.

With authority; the Hokage ordered the retrieval of the fragments so they can be taken to the lab, and issued a search order and the closings of the gates of Konohagakure until the suspect had been brought to him.

'I couldn´t sense the chakra signature of that boy, but the ANBU from the Hyuuga clan told me that he indeed has a chakra system'- Sarutobi mused to himself. 'They spoke about it being extremely difficult to see and contrast from some *background* filling his entire body'- he sighed, he was too old for this. 'He only drew his weapon at the end, just what are you child? '- now he was going to tell the news to the council, he didn´t look forward to that.

**- General Hospital of Konohagakure, Room 44 for intensive care patients –**

In a clean room of the hospital, a middle-aged man with a formal suit had just said his finals farewells to his beloved; the woman under the white sheets had been under a coma for seven years now, and a year ago had been brought from the clinic at the settlement of Rylek. She had been a kind and lively wife to the burdened major of the community there, the peace and joy of his life; now that man was in the cold room signing documents and finishing the preparations to euthanize her, for he could no longer hold onto her. Speaking softly to him the doctor explained why this was the best that anyone could do for her, repeating himself and trying to assure and comfort the grieving man for what he was about to do.

And so; muttering his goodbye again, caressing her long, silky black hair and looking onto her calm face, all of this with dry eyes that couldn´t call forth anymore tears. He turned off the machine keeping her alive, and exited the room.

"beep beep beeeeeeee-"- the doctor and a nurse stayed besides the monitor showing a flat line for a little while more, registering anything of importance, and then they too got out of the room.

Neither of them noticed the black circle with the four-way intersection of the twin slightly curved lines that surrounded her neck and joined with this circle, appearing above her collarbone and completing a symbol used by an ancient civilization of another world and imitated by an eye from Beyond.

**- Limbo, Tunnel between the Pure and Impure worlds –**

When she could see again, after being in a timeless trance staring at the white void, she found that she had descended into the darkness.

'So this is what it feels like to die'- the woman had gentle brown eyes, and her body seemed to be made of light. Unexpectedly; she didn´t feel any sadness or regret, every part of herself wanted to let go, towards the bright light upfront that could be seen slowly getting nearer.

She thought about her husband; she knew him very well, he would continue his life, remembering her and longing to reunite again. He would endure this.

She knew what was in that light, it was the Shinigami – God of Death waiting to take her away. She calmly started to walk forward, knowing that she had already done everything she could for the world she envisioned.

"_Greetings Kaede, how are you feeling?_"- a soft voice reached her from the emptiness; and a beautiful woman figure made of jade-green flames with eyes that shined with an intense white light, appeared to the side of her path, waving at her like she was her neighbor.

"Who are you?"- Kaede stopped because she was mesmerized by the ethereal sight. Could she be a Kami?

The figure smiled a little "Have you forgotten the summer night of the festival where, as boyfriend and girlfriend, he kissed and told you that he had gifted you with his angel so that the eyes of darkness never fell upon you?"- her voice almost sounded like a song.

The eyes of the woman showed her surprise, she clearly remembered that treasured day. "How?! .. so are you the angel?"- she searched the glowing eyes that didn´t know how to hold deception.

The apparition slightly bowed her head. "He referred to me that way, despite my insistence that i´m not a Holy one. I have had many names, but you may call me Shion. The old companions of your husband called me the Elder Goddess Shion; and my deal with your spouse allowed me to learn this tongue"- she made a gesture for her to accompany her. "I managed to accomplish my part, even from where I am. Nevertheless, i have been waiting and asking a question to everyone from the world where you lived that had passed through here, for a while already".

Kaede was in awe, she had her hands in her mouth, starting to grasp the extreme act that his husband had done to protect her. "So what it is that you want to ask of me?"- she lowered her hands and walked towards her.

"I am not sure if you are going to be able to fully understand me, I know you two never had any children"- the glowing eyes focused on her. "One of my descendants has been casted away from the world where he was conceived and born, to the Elemental Nations; and even though my voice still reaches him, it has grown distant and soon we may not be together in life again"- the beautiful voice had started to break. "He is losing himself, desperately trying to climb from the pit he is in, where he could become something else that he rejects with all of his being"- the Goddess suddenly stopped. "I beg of you"- she put her ghostly hands over the hand of Kaede. "Please give me your permission to inhabit the body that you left behind, as an avatar that will get me nearer to my son"- the apparition kneeled to the spirit of the woman, pressing the back of the clutched hand to her forehead. "Do this and your race, your kind in this world will earn my gratitude until the twilight that shall awaken Azathoth".

The human woman was really hard-pressed to refuse her; she felt that this alien and powerful being was capable of loving like a human mother loved her children. Despite of this, she had doubts about the full nature of the Goddess that wished to occupy her body and walk on the Ninja world. 'What would be the changes she brought? What would think the people that knew her? What if .. '- she decided to keep these thoughts to herself; she recognized the name Azathoth from hearing hushed conversations from the friends of her husband, but didn´t know or understand much of it. Instead she chose to ask a question that would lead to the answers that she wanted.

"I´ll need an answer, before i can respond to that request"- she started formally. "What do you intend to do if I refuse? I am admittedly worried for the effects of your presence around the people I have left behind".

Shion rose from her kneeled position, but kept holding her hand. "I will not take possession of your body without your permission, and I will not ask anyone else from your world anymore. If I can´t convince you, I shall despair and surrender my effort; simply awaiting for what remains of my offspring after his death"- The ethereal eyes were almost blinding her, as she was being pierced by the grim determination in that gaze.

"Don´t worry, in that world I would remain hidden as a well-guarded secret. And if your husband comes before me, he will easily recognize me; and understand what had been done"- her expression began to soften. "Only getting nearer to my child is my intention, not doing anything more. I´ll let the leader that would shelter me decide if any word or gift from me should be accepted".

Kaede was greatly surprised; when she had begun to expect her reactions to be more similar to what a desperate mother would do, this being came with this answer. 'I can feel that her intent is strong, but she doesn´t mean harm. I don´t know if she´s under some kind of especial restriction .. hmmhm. That doesn´t seem to be the case'- closing her eyes and thinking deeply on everything she had heard; she suddenly sighed, because her choice had already come from the bottom of her heart.

Opening her brown eyes again, she put her other hand over the one of the Elder Goddess "I accept your request, you can have my body as your avatar then"- the two were smiling at each other. She was ecstatic that she had been able to understand a being so different from humanity with such ease.

The ghostly apparition of Shion released both of their grips "Thank you, the appreciated deed of one is that of the race as well"- the light at the end of the tunnel had abruptly rushed towards them, enveloping them with warmth.

Before the light took her away, Kaede blinked and smiled mischievously "If I may ask; originally, can you tell me who was the father of his ancestors?"- just after saying that and seeing the bigger smile in the face of the alien goddess, did she realize that she already knew the answer.

And with that; the light engulfed both of them, and the woman known as Kaede Tsutsukakushi peacefully passed away.

**- Back in the Room 44 for intensive care patients of the Konoha´s Hospital –**

In the empty room, the completely still body of the placid woman with fair ivory skin abruptly jerked once; and then after a moment of nothing else happening, the right hand twitched a little. The closed eyelids started to open once again, revealing bright eyes with green irises that were looking at the ceiling; and then with a stiff motion the entire body changed to a seating position on the bed.

'I can feel you close by'- Shion had been fortunate, and her smile of happiness illuminated the undead but still beautiful face. 'There are preparations to be made before I meet the leader of this place; I will need general info and to modify this body so it can properly hold me'- jade-green flames started to flicker in the air around her, and in a flash she disappeared from the room.

**- Shinobi Academy, schoolyard during lunch time-**

It was finally recess, and Naruto was laughing and still in a good mood after having pranked some of his teachers before the Geography lesson. Having slipped soda and mints into their drinks, and then recording their burps with help from Kiba; it had been hilarious listening to those, and had prepared material for a next prank for next week all in one move, it had been brilliant in his opinion. Sadly, by some means he had been discovered afterwards, and they had deleted their recordings and punished both of them; but they didn´t care, it had been fun and had taken his mind from the weird and vivid dreams, or should he call them nightmares, he had been having and that didn´t let him sleep well.

He unwrapped the rice balls he had brought for lunch and took a seat, overlooking a group of kids from another class playing in the yard, more serious and in a contemplative mood. He had enjoyed hanging out with the braggart, but he knew that at best they were good acquaintances; the same could be said of the other kids in his class. He had been unable to make close friends because some were a little wary of him, or if not their parents were. He sighed and looked toward the gates of the academy, were some adults were glaring at him with the same thinly masked hatred of always. 'It doesn´t matter, i´ll show them. I´ll be the best Hokage ever and they´ll have to recognize my awesome, believe it!'- he stopped paying attention to them and started eating. A hushed conversation then reached his ears from a group of women talking just outside the school.

"Did you see the commotion earlier near the east market?"- one of them inquired the others. "Oh! don´t tell me about it, that was horrible. A rampaging demon with creepy yellow eyes came and almost trampled everyone there"- the other with more expensive-looking clothes answered in dismay. "That market is only a few blocks from here isn´t it?, who stopped the monster?"- Another woman which wore a blue yukata intervened. "The shinobi of course!, but I don´t know what they did with that creature. I only saw it for a moment. And afterwards our Hokage decided to close the gates of the village"- the rich woman couldn´t understand why their leader did that, when everything seemed under control.

Naruto was disconcerted about that. 'So now they are also calling demon someone else? '- from the window of the classroom he had noticed the bunch of agitated people running in the streets earlier, but he couldn´t see what the ruckus had been about. Taking out his canteen, he started to sip between bites of his simple lunch.

'Whatever'- after a while, he wore again his practiced smile and goofy expression; he wouldn´t continue to brood over what they thought of him, not even his heartache when thinking too much about that would keep him down. He started to walk towards the dumpster behind the academy to drop his trash.

"Naruto-kun .."- just out of his sight and partially hidden behind a tree a distance away; a shy-looking girl with dark-blue hair, pale gray eyes, and wearing a thick beige coat had been watching him. She had been focused on him and hadn´t paid attention to the gossip of the women outside the academy.

'For a moment there, he seemed so terribly sad'- Hinata stared at his back till he turned around a corner of the building; and unconsciously activated her _Byakugan_, continuing to follow him with her sight. 'If only I had the courage to talk to you, to cheer you up .. you wouldn´t think i´m useless; wo- would you Naruto-kun'- she was blushing slightly by looking at him. But suddenly she noticed something more with her _Byakugan _and her expression paled.

Directly behind the dumpster her Naruto-kun was approaching, a lid blocking an access to the sewers slowly started to be pushed aside from below; and a terrifying blood-stained hand was revealed, it pressed against the ground and supported someone that was starting to crawl out.

The sight almost made Hinata retch, there completely drenched in blood and sewer water a menacing humanoid shape with eyes she had never seen before had pulled out a kunai and remained still, crouching and in a stance.

The girl became petrified with fear, Naruto-kun was in danger !. He was all alone in there with that. Her anxiety rose even more when Naruto stopped, sniffed a little and started to gag, and then gingerly prepared to throw the trash in the dumpster from a distance away; while at the same time, the filthy humanoid tensed and shifted to being ready to spring at a moment notice.

Taking a desperate split choice; she made a mad dash to reach Naruto before any sudden noise made the creature harm him. The courtyard was just starting to empty because of the chime indicating the start of the next classes; she paid no mind to this and turned around the corner.

"Dakara .. no more, no more"-_ Byakugan _blazing, she passed by the side of a flabbergasted Naruto who was staring wide-eyed at the *thing* a couple inches taller than him that had just got up and spoken in a deep raspy voice, which had glassy eyes that were looking up even while facing him. In just a moment she was between them in the stance her father had taught her, shielding Naruto; she took a look at the low and readying kunai in those hands, and shouted as loud as she could "SENSEI! HEEELP!"- just as the words left her lips, the eyes of the creature glowed red, and it charged at them, brutally sending the entire dumpster careening to the side.

'What is happening?'- In a moment Naruto was calmly going back to class after dropping his trash, and the next a monster was about to kill him and the most quiet girl from his class. Wait, was she protecting him? he didn´t even know her that well. Suddenly, something deep from within his mind awakened him from his daze; and he quickly glanced at the kunai in it´s hand, and then to the now clearly frozen Hinata. No! this whatever-the-hell-it-was wouldn´t reach either of them!.

'Whoa!'- the creature was almost upon them in the blink of an eye, it´s gaze now on him. Naruto knew he only had one chance. Swiftly he pushed Hinata to the side with his left hand, while preparing a haymaker to it´s face with his right. Then abruptly, he had a change of mind when he saw the fluctuating focus in those eyes; and dropped low with his leg extended in a reverse kick.

It tripped on his stretched right leg, viciously slamming it´s head against the ground and rolling a few feet more until it stopped. The kunai having been thrown mid-charge, abandoned and stuck in the dirt where the charge had begun, and it *poofed* out of existence.

Iruka, Mizuki and two more instructors appeared at the entrance of that little backyard; to find the scene of trash strewn about, Hyuuga Hinata staring in awe at her crush, and Uzumaki Naruto with his fists clenched looking over his shoulder at the hideously wounded tanned boy they had been informed about to be on the lookout for, lying on the ground with his eyes closing.

Unexpectedly, a low clapping could be heard coming from the main yard behind them. The shinobi turned around and saw a man already on his fifties walking towards them; his hair was almost completely white and had an elegant goatee, he wore fine silver and black formal robes. "Magnificent! young boy. I saw for myself how you took down this creature, which had been terrorizing the populace and escaping from the remarkable ANBU of this village since early this morning"- he looked gently at Naruto, who snapped out of it and muttered a quiet "it was nothing, glad it helped". The elderly man walked with pose and an air of authority, and the instructors let him pass, absorbing what had just transpired.

He shook his head and came to a stop near the dirty being lying in the ground. He brought out his ivory cane, and tapped it in the head. A soft whimper came from it, and he turned to look at the shinobi "I highly recommend that you restrain or kill it as soon as possible; it´s not unconscious but simply closing his eyelids and surrendering. It´s easy to tell"- saying his part, the elderly man returned to the inside of the school. Some instructors told Naruto and Hinata that they had to speak with a chuunin named Ebisu after class for debriefing about what happened, and then ushered them to the classroom. Other teachers bounded the unresisting boy with thick metal wire, and contacted the ANBU to transport the intruder to the holding cells.

**- Hokage´s tower. Main reception office –**

With the council having ended promptly after the notice of the capture of the problematic intruder; Sarutobi seated on his desk, trying to compile and analyze everything his subordinates had told him about the subject. After pondering on it for a couple of hours, he came to the conclusion that it would be best to confine him for now, try to heal his wounds without using medical ninjutsu just enough to be able to begin the arduous task of interrogating him; all the while, maybe the spy network of Jiraiya of the Sannin could gather some info on the outlandish kid.

Deftly, he sent the necessary messages for these duties and the opening of the gates; and after taking a brief respite proceeded to work on the ever-growing paperwork.

After only a few minutes, a small green toad appeared in a cloud of smoke in the frame of the window. It spat a small scroll to the floor, and disappeared in a *puff* just like he came.

The Hokage recognized the summon of his student, and picked up the scroll, unsealed it, and began to read:

_Sarutobi-sensei_

_First of all, a call just to ask how i´m doing every once in a while wouldn´t be so bad. You know, not only during tragedies._

_Ok, now seriously. There´s a ton of info about that boy you described to me; it´s just that most of it comes from outside Fire Country, and you have to dissect the truth from the rumors with tweezers._

_Here´s what I have confirmed about him: He has been living all his life on the road so to speak, because he never uses those, preferring to move through the woods or swamps. He´s been known for occasionally stealing foods from markets in small settlements. However, he never sets a foot anywhere near Shinobi villages for some reason. If a Shinobi team encounters him, he flees as if he had seen the Shinigami; but if he stumbles across a single ninja, he´ll try to speak to him in that weird language of his and sometimes try to trade stuff. _

_Here comes the interesting part, he can be damn-near undetectable and hard to chase or follow, can kill even large predator animals with ease; and tends to be more active during the afternoon and night, only sleeping a few hours in the mornings. The most bizarre thing about him probably is his habit of attempting to heal any wounded soldiers or shinobi he comes across, without caring for their country, sometimes even taking care of them. Why does he take such risks if he´s clearly afraid of them? I don´t have a clue. So I suggest you don´t waste the opportunity and try interrogating him through something unorthodox, like a civilian; the freakout should be amazing. Ha Ha Ha, anyways take care._

_The awesome Toad Sage Jiraiya-sama._

Sarutobi Hiruzen stored the scroll and then put some fresh tobacco on his pipe 'That student of mine never changes; for some reason i think he´s holding something back'- this intruder started to look less and less like a spy with each revelation; even so he felt that he had to be careful. He would think things through a little bit more.

**- Shinobi Academy, inside the classroom-**

Naruto had been sitting very quiet in his desk during the lasts two classes they had after lunch, a rare sight to behold for those that knew him; he was distracted thinking about the weird-ass confrontation earlier, what Hinata did, and the rich old man who had complimented him. Even when remembering that last encounter left a very bad taste in his mouth. Glancing at Hinata, he saw her staring at him; blushing, she turned to look at the teachers.

"Alright children! the guest that I had talked to you before, now is going to introduce himself and lend us a little of his time; so be respectful!. Ok, now you can come in Mr. Zo - Khalar "- Iruka-sensei gave the podium to the elderly man with the purple irises and the dry smile that had praised Naruto in the schoolyard.

While Naruto stared at him, he started to speak "It´s i who should be thanking the Shinobi academy for this opportunity; thanks Iruka-san, Mizuki-san"- he then turned to the children "Greetings everyone, my name is Zo – Khalar Nishin ; and i´ll try to be concise in my exposition so that it doesn´t get too boring".

"Hello Nishin-san"- chorused some of the children.

"Very well, then how about we start with someone telling me what are the main tools for a Shinobi to protect his home; that aren´t available to someone who just received civilian education?"- he saw a girl with long pink hair and red dress shoot up her hand; he smiled pleasantly and nodded towards her.

"Those would be the manipulation of chakra, the mix of the spiritual and physical energy within us; and our cunning developed through a military mindset"- Sakura Haruno immediately responded.

"Very correct miss"- he turned to the whole class again. "Do you remember when you managed to first feel and control your chakra?, surely it had it´s difficulties. But that only made it more rewarding when you became capable of feats that many others, with less fortune and opportunity, would even kill for"- his gaze started to turn more serious. "The knowledge that has enabled you this also gives you a responsibility proportional to the power it grants, a noble duty to the people you strive to help and defend"- the students already have heard these things, although with a different wording, many times before; but something in this man kept drawing their attention. "It´s a sad truth that in the world we live in, power coming from knowledge such as this or from money and certain resources represent such a widespread mean to obtain influence and shape the world"- he stopped for just a moment in remembrance of what he had lost because of it.

"Indeed, i´m very proud of belonging now into a village like this; which values harmony and bonds of camaraderie so much more. And in the spirit of this strength, knows to always look to accomplish the intent behind the many duties that you will receive in your career; and not just the order stated. The examples I could give of this are many; but i´ll only say that when you receive the straightforward mission to help to put out fires in a district; you will realize the importance and urgency of coordinating efforts with the local firemen, cooperating to reduce chaos, while struggling to save as many as you can without leaving behind any of your teammates; and so on with the different objectives the people who need you might require. All these people will have expectations of you, and responding to them shall allow them and you yourself to see the worth of everything you have sacrificed so far"- he looked in the direction of Naruto. "be that a fulfilling childhood"- he turned briefly to Sakura "the time to enjoy yourself and relate to others, your own goals"- and finally his eyes briefly flickered towards a lazy boy with a high ponytail sitting in the last row "your peace of mind, and even more"-he then stopped for a moment and just let them absorb his words.

"With that said, the gruesome competition for power in this land has created the necessity for Shinobi to perform traditionally atypical tasks. Some of them are: acting as sentries of entire cities and important buildings, recovery of artifacts that would serve as resources like mentioned, holding or protection of forbidden lore, and even ambassadors between your village and non-humans, amongst others"- some of the children looked astounded at that last one, did he meant contract summons?. Just then, the bell signaling the end of classes for today started to chime. "I see we are out of time, I hope this subject had been educational or inspirational for all of you. Maybe we´ll continue talking another day; and if you have any doubts or feel interested in knowing more about these other jobs for Shinobi, you can come to my office in the address that your teachers had written in the blackboard. Have a good weekend, and until the next time"- After having said his goodbyes, and exchanging pleasantries with the teachers; the aged consultant exited the room.

'Alright!, I will definitively visit this old man tomorrow to ask my questions'- with a pencil in his hand, Naruto had just filled three pages of a small notebook. There was something a little off about that guy, but he dismissed it. He put his things on his backpack and exited the academy towards his apartment, he had much to think about.


	3. Arc one: Closed eyes) Breath

**Outer Maelstrom: Shinobi´s Grasp**

**Disclaimer: **I don´t own _Naruto_ by Masashi Kishimoto or the _Cthulhu mythos _by H. P. Lovecraft and his collaborators. Although this fanfic and the OC´s are of my own creation.

**-** " Speaking aloud and normally"-

- " _Incorporeal voice/ words heard while dreaming, remembering or hallucinating ; also a Jutsu or technique being intoned or used_ "-

- " _**Deep and ominous i**__**ncorporeal voice**_ "-

- ' Thoughts ' -

* * *

_**First Arc: "Closed eyes"**_

_**Chapter 3: Deep breath **_

* * *

(For as crowed as this place sometimes gets, i´m thankful i get to keep my privacy ˃

* * *

In the main reception office of the Hokage´s tower, the imposing building with the kanji for fire emblazoned in a red circle above the door, two elderly men were drinking and talking amiably; meanwhile outside the sun shined brightly and the birds were chirping animatedly.

"If only i could get rid of this stiffness and back pain, I could take care of all the paperwork more quickly and we could enjoy more of these meetings"- Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed dejectedly, while smoking from his pipe and refilling his cup of warm sake.

Seated in a couch in front of him, an already bald man with a short white beard wearing a formal gray and white yukata also was enjoying the fine drink, while trying to calm himself.

He briefly chuckled "don't worry so much my friend; thanks to the work your student has been pushed around to do, we can hope that the medical sciences soon will reach the point where these problems can be fixed and further delayed"- the aged dignitary raised his cup to the Hokage in a toast, and then took another sip of the drink.

Sarutobi smiled and took a deep inhale of his tobacco at that "indeed, we can only hope Shibara-san"- he reclined more relaxed against his seat. "This is truly a fine brand of sake, and you say this is the last bottle you have left that you could bring with you from your old office at Rylek?"- he inquired.

"Yes, it´s a pity. I still remember with fondness my time working together with Zo-Khalar-san there for the major"- looking down at his cup, Shibara continued. "He was so stern but efficient, and always got things done no matter what. He even once took care of my sick daughter while I was in a business travel, i´m grateful to him for that and everything else he did for our town".

The Hokage nodded "even now, he continues to be that proficient"- he paused for a moment, while staring now at one of his paintings of the village hanging in the wall. "How is your daughter doing? I haven´t had the opportunity to ask you about her in a long while, Jin-san"- he turned to his company.

"I´m afraid not too well"- Jin Shibara put his cup on the table. "With her asthma condition having worsened, she had been having trouble finding an occupation since moving here"- during the whole conversation, the old man had been growing anxious about something on his mind.

Sarutobi noticed his tired expression and trembling hands, and became worried; Jin Shibara was usually a very calm and collected man, for something to disturb him so much .. "If I may ask old-friend; why are you so worried? I thought it could be about your daughter, since she is your only family here; but now I think that´s not the case"- he put out his smoking pipe, and inclined forward. The bald elder made a sign with his hand; and the Hokage understood the signal requesting a private conversation, complying, he activated the secrecy seals and runes.

Jin couldn´t put out this for any longer, he had a debt to the Hokage for allowing his people and their obscure past into this great village. "Initially, i sincerely wanted for this meeting to only be about the financial agreements from earlier, and to reminisce with you about another times, however now …"- he hardened his look. "There´s a confession to make .. i discovered a long time ago that your village had been acquiring the Eldritch Tomes from the cult born in Rylek. It was no surprising at all. Since ancient times, before the First Shinobi War, our people had been obtaining that forbidden lore. Bandits and ninja had stolen or otherwise obtained some of the books for centuries now .. and you don´t look shaken by this, confirming my feeling that you already knew that I knew".

The Hokage smirked a little "So both knew about each other"- his expression became serious again "i have never noticed any effort from that sect to retrieve the Tomes, I always thought it was strange"- he was saddened, but his resolve was of steel. "I´m afraid to tell you that if you are a member of that cult, you should leave this village". This sect has proven to be too suspicious of many tragedies already; despite the usefulness of the knowledge they possess. "You understand that I cannot allow such risks to the village, don´t you?" – all of the people from Rylek had been investigated for years, and those found belonging to the cult had been interrogated and exiled from the village with minimum problems. There was something he wanted to ask though "So should I take that you are a member?".

Jin shook his head "I couldn´t be hold in such confidence by them. Even if my understanding of the lore in those tomes is quite remarkable; my frequent travels made me a vulnerable target. I acted as a messenger for them, until the town was raided and my brother, their leader by then, died in the flames; with me not knowing until I returned and saw the ashes and the shambles"- he deeply regretted not managing to save his only brother from that madness; he had failed him and if he had his way that sect would never be able to recruit and corrupt anyone else.

Some of the scenes that he had described, the Hokage had already confirmed through the mind-walking technique of the Head of the Yamanaka clan, used once on many of these inmigrants while sleeping. He hadn´t confessed much that he already hadn´t verified, however the question remained. "It was good that we came clean with each other; nonetheless something tells me this isn´t all that you wanted to tell me"- the Hokage wanted to get to the point.

Jin Shibara forced himself to regain composure "Undoubtedly; you have read some of those tomes, and found how difficult they are to understand without the proper context. In short, they contain alien knowledge that can only be heard and registered by a few people. These are people born in our original village and with a condition suspected by me to be a bloodline limit, which allows them to enter a precarious state of trance known as Dream Cycle. Some of these entities from the vast expanse beyond the sky have power that surpasses the human understanding; and when one of them speaks to a person during the Dream Cycle, if he or she manages to remain sane enough, he can put those words in an Eldritch Tome"- he stopped for a few minutes to give time to process this; and then continued. "The motives of these aliens generally are next to impossible to grasp; however, amongst them the ones referred to as Great Old Ones or Ancient Ones tend to have an attitude ranging from apathetic indifference to manipulative cruelty and sadism towards mankind. Meanwhile; there are others called Elder Gods, who are mostly neutral towards humans and can even help them sometimes"- Jin then awaited to see if the Hokage had any question.

After a while of musing to himself the Hokage widened his eyes in horror at the implications of what he had just heard. It was so difficult to believe, and yet he hadn´t heard a single wavering in the given speech. Slowly, a sick feeling was consuming his gut. "How can this be? .. If you are telling the truth, why allow these beings the means to influence the actions of so many people across the world?, is there any way to tell apart these two kinds of aliens you tell me about?"- Urgent measures had to be taken if this was the cause for the chaos and suffering that was running rampant in all of the countries. 'Aliens, beings from other worlds, beyond the heaven. I can´t even imagine .. but then again, the depictions in the few tomes i´ve checked describe in detail monsters that I just know couldn´t posibly exist in this world'- he supposed that the nearest thing to this would be the contract summons; but even then, something in all of this was making him feel terribly ignorant and confused.

"If you analyze the tomes in your possession taking into account what I have just told you, you will verify many of these things and comprehend what didn´t make sense before. These beings from Beyond are the secret sources of different powers capable of destruction, domination and much more"- the composure of Jin was debilitating with his anxiety. "About the classifications of these beings; originally it was vital for those who entered the Dream cycle to recognize what were the immediate responses of these aliens to a human presence. So, after many tries and countless casualties they recorded and described a good number of the entities they could see"- Jin knew it was time to drop the final bomb.

"With all of this said; the reason why I came to tell you all of this now of all times is because .. "- the last Shibara frantically sought for a way to soften what he was about to say, finding none he braced himself. "Yesterday; i was returning from having dinner at a restaurant and encountered an avatar of a particular one of these Elder Gods walking through the residential district of your village, it was very chatty"- he had his palms already up trying to calm the powerful Kage.

*Crunch* the Hokage had bitten into his pipe. "WHAAT! WHERE IS IT NOW?"- Sarutobi lost his restraint and unleashed his Killer Intent, standing in front of the cowed Jin.

*Gasp* "Please wait a moment, a moment before you turn Konoha upside down!"- he said panting a bit. After Hiruzen had reined in his KI, he continued to speak.

"At first I didn´t recognize it/her, she seemed quite familiar to me somehow and walked towards her when she called me. We sat on a bench at a park; and when she introduced herself as the Elder Goddess Shion I covertly weaved one of my illusion spells in order to hide both of us. According to what I knew about her from many tomes i asked her some really obscure questions to verify her identity, she then answered promptly and correctly to those. I even used runes and spells to be completely sure. You see .. Shion is a very unique alien being; one that many of the Eldritch acolytes such as myself have felt most curious about. Calling her an Elder Goddess may very well be wildly inappropriate; for although her capabilities are bizarre, her nature and form of speech are extremely similar to that of a human. This is not the case for any other Elder God or Ancient One, it´s not an exaggeration at all to say that one may lose their sanity trying to understand most of them. For centuries, many of those able to enter the Dream cycle have longed to meet her and hear her advices about coexistence, self-understanding, and even love"- by the end of his speech the Hokage had calmed down considerably. He had seen with his own eyes what lesser wielders of this strange lore could do, and the strength of their magic. There was that well-hidden spark in the chakra of Jin Shibara, which identified him as a considerably more capable adept.

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, the Hokage locked his gaze on him. No secret or possible danger would threaten the safety of the village under the command of the God of Shinobi. "Very well Shibara-san, take me to this alien so I can talk to it and decide whether or not to kick it out"- Sarutobi Hiruzen said, and then blinked in confusion. "A moment, what is her appearance? you keep calling it *Her*"- he saw the other old man stroke his beard. "You know that my sight is nowhere near as good as it used to be, i could tell that the avatar it/she is using seems to be a certain woman´s corpse. Strange, since Shion can only do this after her request for it had been granted .. anyways, she told me what were her intentions here, but i think it indeed would be better if you spoke to her in person. We agreed that i would carry her temporarily inside a seal; are you sure you want to meet her now? These revelations clearly have weighted greatly on your mind. Wouldn´t you prefer time to meditate or rest before continuing?"- Jin got up from his seat and brought out from his clothes an orange-sized shining sphere of glass.

Sarutobi nodded "I appreciate your concern, but this is something that must be done as soon as possible. You can unseal her"- he waited.

Jin Shibara closed his heavy eyelids and started to mutter low unintelligibly phrases. " _Aeons dhan .. Aeons itten .. khi´en zha_"- the entire room had gradually become pitch black, only the two elderly men remaining visible. Little by little, minuscule dots of light started to be revealed from the darkness. Vast constellations of stars and entire distant galaxies could be seen in every direction. The two men only supported by dark disks were mesmerized by a sight they had never seen before: the infinite deep cosmos of outer space.

"_I appreciate that you allowed this meeting to take place, Jin. This scenario shall please you, stargazer. To the Hokage of Konohagakure, it´s an honor to meet you. Please, from now on both refer to me simply as Shion"- _When they both turned around to the melodic voice, they saw an almost unreal sight. There, descending by dark disks like theirs, with measured barefoot steps; an unearthly looking woman with black hair reaching her lower back and bewitching eyes with irises like emeralds was wearing a form-hugging dress of green silk and serenely smiling at them.

Meanwhile Jin continued to babble and cast his limited sight everywhere, trying to take in all that he could; the Hokage could only stare at the stunning woman, and her around D-sized bust, resisting the urge to let his jaw drop to the ground "Oh my Kami .."- Sarutobi could only continue to focus on her, ignoring the expanse around him, until something clicked. "Kaede -san .. the disappeared corpse of the major´s wife, it´s that you?"- All of this, it felt like it was no illusion; but they were looking at the Beyond through a window of some kind.

The graceful and unreal being stopped before them "She allowed me to use this body as an avatar while i´m in your world. Jin should have explained to you already what i am, and some of the rules I abide by"- She then glanced at the beaming old acolyte, his right hand reaching towards a distant galaxy. "Perhaps it would be best if you waited in the Hokage´s office; I don´t want you to have an heart attack, I would keep you with life but I wouldn´t be able to block the pain"

The Hokage took a moment to analyze all of this, and then spoke "No, he will remain here until the meeting is finished. I believe what little he said about you, and he will give me his input afterwards"- he then looked at the alien before him with a calculative and dead-serious expression -"What is your objective in my village? I can´t allow you to interact with no one else there".

Shion nodded and addressed him "My only intention is to remain as near as possible to my descendant, so he can continue to clearly hear my Voice; nothing else at all. It doesn´t matter to me if I remain sealed in this glass or anywhere else in your world"- her gaze glowed with a white light for a moment. "I know that he is now locked down in one of your prisons; and heavily misunderstood because he, unlike me, doesn´t know how to speak your language"- She started to look at him with a grim expression "i won´t interfere no matter what you choose to do to him; if he isn´t with me in life, he´ll reunite with me in death"- her expression then started to soften "However I do have a proposition, would you like to hear it?"

It took only a short moment to realize who this goddess was talking about; and so far, he thought that maybe he could reach a favorable agreement -"that´s acceptable, but before we discuss it, there´s something I need to know. He is a human in some way, isn´t it?".

The unreal woman briefly laughed in pure joy at hearing that, momentarily covering her mouth with her hand, she then weighted her answer. "My, you are indeed a sharp one. Your suspicions were already on the right track, even with a minimal understanding and all these unknown things being heaped upon you"- she smiled at him, and for a moment he thought it was a seductive one. "Yes, he is certainly human in part; and as a matter of fact, he is less likely to harm or kill another sentient being than your normal fourteen years old"- There, Sarutobi interrupted her.

"Hold on, i don´t think so; before we could capture him he rampaged through my village and severely hurt some of my shinobi"- he kept his neutral gaze on her.

"Mhmm .. yes, I can see what you are talking about. I am checking on him right now"- Her gaze became unfocused, while staring slightly upwards. "From the damage, i can tell he suffered some kind of heavy trauma to his brain while he was panicking and trying to run away. The massive synaptic interferences came from focused disruptions on the chakra system on his brain"- she then blinked "quite a feat actually .. your warriors were a hair-width away of killing one belonging to the race that safeguards my sanctuary. Recently known as the _Tera no kuragari/Temple´s shadow_, or originally as the _Vengy_ race".

Although it was slightly disturbing to see the power that this being seemed to hold over that boy, he couldn´t help but feel some pity and regret for what had happened 'I see; of course if his biology is so different, the chakra coils in his brains also are going to be different from those of a human being. Which means that when they used genjutsu on him .. His thought process is likely to be strange too, together with his other vital functions' "to survive that kind of damage .. could he be healed somehow?"- Hiruzen asked.

"I have nudged some components here and there that will allow him to heal from this much more quickly. By tomorrow he should be fine"- she refocused her gaze onto him. "Now, continuing onto the subject; it doesn´t matter what hope may still lie in his heart, he won´t return to the world he left behind never again"- Her eyes glowed brightly again when she said this. "Holding onto such hope will only end up crushing his soul and in him eventually becoming a Lost One: a _Tera no kuragari_ whose mind and will have been broken through loneliness or sorrow and that has become unable to hear me anymore, despite my constant efforts to prevent this. Some would simply end their lives to join me; but most would become blinded by rage and despair, developing obsessive and self-destructing disorders. Agents of fury and vengeance worthy of their former name. All of them can be brought back to normal, of course; however, if there´s no one here willing to do that I can simply take his soul away and avoid damage to your world"- The neutral face she had while saying all of this, was unnerving to say the least.

A fire of indignation and anger appeared inside the heart of the veteran Hokage -"How can you talk so calmly about killing your own child! won´t you even try to protect him!"

A flash of white light came from the goddess, and both human beings flinched. Surrounding them, multiple swirls of light were being bended down towards a dark vortex below, leading to inexistence. Above them, Shion floated with a crown of leaves made of jade and four majestic feathered wings burning with a green fire.

"_I do love all of my children, and there are no words with which I can sufficiently express how out of place is your outburst. Life and Death are only states of being to me and mine; and in each of these there are truths that Humans have repeatedly demonstrated they are not yet ready to understand. One of the Tera no Kuragari mustn´t risk the balance of this *Chakra* world"._

"_My proposal stands on the table: Only you and the human beings previously pointed out by you, or those wearing the tittle of Kage of Konohagakure, will be able to hear my voice from now on after having called my name while holding the sealed orb. That way; I could give out accurate suggestions on how to interact with the Vengy, be either to wield his strength as an advantage against other humans or to any other end. This agreement can be renegotiated anytime; however it always shall be the responsibility of the human contacting me to make sure that his or her enemies don´t realize the meaning of these brief telepathic conversations we would be having, keeping me as a secret. The only penalties to any human who violates an agreement can only be as much as me and my child leaving this world forever. Penalties from my part can only consist of compensations where it could apply. If you don´t accept these terms, i´ll simply continue what I have been doing in this world for twelve years already and awaiting; if you accept, you can notify me anytime and the terms of my help will begin to take effect"._

"OH! DAMN! You angered her! An Elder God for Kami´s sake!"- Jin Shibara franticly got up from the floor and started to desperately think of a way to salvage the situation –"I beg the both of you! This is an invaluable opportunity! Humankind has never before, to my awareness, made an agreement such as this with an alien race. Our species can begin to understand each other!". He knelt, both of his knees on the dark disk he had been standing on, and raised both of his hands in a grand gesture "it´s clear to me that we don´t hold the same basic values; but don´t you see! We can learn from this and prove that we can build a better future even with those who are so different from us!"- he then lowered his hands and spoke to the Hokage. "I understand the danger you see in the presence of the _Vengy_; but why judge him this way without even speaking to him?; I truly think that despite belonging to an alien race somehow related to human beings, we can consider him as a person and maybe even teach him the _Will of Fire_. We won´t know for sure anything about what is there to benefit each of us until we meet him"- the hunched form of the old Shibara finished his pleading.

While the Hokage considered all of this; slowly their surroundings faded to become an indistinct darkness, with only the three of them being visible.

"_It´s very interesting to me how the Eldritch´s knowledge came to give you such a hopeful perspective, Jin Shibara? When all of it can be so obscure, and so easily evoke horrifying scenarios of utter madness and doom; yet your mind keeps holding strong despite this and your advanced age"- Shion was looking at him with an unreadable face. "To believe in a dream so strongly you found meaning on it .."_

_"Very well; i´ll disregard the judgment threw upon me, be more flexible, and actively continue to support this vision we share. Farewell Humans; i will be waiting for your decision. Until next time"._

When their surroundings faded completely, they found themselves standing in the Hokage´s office. The entire exchange had just lasted a couple of minutes according to the clock on the desk, and it was still a sunny afternoon.

Jin handed the glass sphere to the Hokage, who sealed it away in a small scroll and then stored it in his robes.

"Well, that went better than expected"- Jin then felt the glare the Hokage was giving him. "Alright, alright i will just organize my thoughts and tell you all I could dissect from my observations of Shion"- He sheepishly went to sit on the couch and started to meditate quietly while the Hokage sat on his desk and replaced his smoking pipe.

After about twenty minutes had passed, the elder of the remains of the Shibara family started to give his report.

"First of all; the seal I put her in doesn´t truly restrict her, she just remains there to maintain the secrecy of this deal"

"Also, she has a general policy of minimal intervention and an avoidance to harm any human from this world; just like I had anticipated".

"This said, there´s the fact that she knew what his son was feeling but had to check on his mind and body to know about what had exactly happened.. this tells me that she maintains a constant and powerful emotional connection of some kind with the _Vengy_, but she isn´t always completely aware of his circumstances or what he is consciously thinking".

"I am absolutely convinced that it´s impossible for the boy to return to the sanctuary. Also, his mental stability would be of critical consequence for us, and her influence on him is linked to it".

"Besides that, they most likely follow similar philosophies about life and death; and whether or not we can receive additional boons from this goddess will depend on certain achievements related to the boy, only known by her"- he looked at the hardened Kage before him.

'And you had already deduced by your own most of what I had just told you, my shrewd friend. If you decide to forsake this stranded boy, I will rescue him and raise him myself'- the two wily old men were calmly looking at each other. 'After all; if the inspiring tale of the liberation of the Shoggoth taught me anything, it is that in the end, the will of a god it´s not what brings about a True Change'- a barely perceptible smirk appeared on his aged face.

After a moment of continued contemplation, Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep intake of tobacco and cleared his throat before speaking "I have you to thank for everything you have just showed me; the experiences of today exceeded my wildest expectations. I will take my decision tomorrow, after having seen the child; please accompany me to that. And now if you excuse me, i have to think of a way to cover the disappearance of the body of Tsutsukakushi-san. Thanks again, and have a pleasant day"- they shook hands briefly and then Jin took his leave; while the Hokage reclined on his seat, and again went over all he had just witnessed.

**- Social services department of Konohagakure –**

"Thank you very much for explaining all of this!"- Naruto was currently seated inside of a simple office with some chairs, a bookcase, a desk and a cactus in a corner. He was facing the old man, named Nishin Zo-Khalar, writing on the desk; who had just answered all of the questions Naruto had after his speech at class yesterday.

"You are welcome, but I think you still have more questions to ask"- the consultant had finished to write a couple of letters while Naruto had been taking notes about the committees that helped to run the village, and awaited for the fidgeting child to speak.

"It´s about what happened in the yard yesterday …"- Naruto was feeling uncomfortable with the stern expression Nishin was now giving him. "I can´t help but to feel there was something wrong with that .. that reeking thing that attacked me. I think that despite it´s creepy gaze and craziness; it .. no, he didn´t want to actually hurt me and Hinata .. he discarded the kunai he had before reaching us .."

"Would it even have mattered if he didn´t and managed to reach both of you?"- the old man before him asked.

"Wha .. but"- Naruto started to say, but Nishin stopped him with a gesture and continued. "Kiddo, you were in great danger back there. Even if that creature didn´t truly intent to harm you; if it had randomly lashed out at you, it could have gravely hurt you"- Zo-Khalar softened his expression after saying that, but remained in a serious and contemplative mood.

"I received some complaints from a few people afterwards.. some thought that i had applauded a display of violence between children at school; but I assure you Naruto-san, that human-looking thing you fought wasn´t a child .. but a True Monster"

Naruto listened to him intently, but something was still nagging at him. "How do you know that?"- unbidden memories started to come to his mind, of all the people that had called him a monster or demon at some time or another. "He seemed like a person to me, how can you tell me he´s not?!"- when he lived at the orphanage it had been much worse. When the drunks had opportunity they would chase and beat him, and he had to wait until the masked Shinobi in black clothes stopped them everytime. In the meantime, it never mattered how much he cried for them to stop; it was like he wasn´t even human to them anymore. "He talked before he attacked me, and he was crying all the time! How can you be so sure?!"- His hands were griping tightly at his pants.

The old man before him just regarded him steadily without saying a word. Just then, an elderly woman opened the door "Sir, you have been called for a meeting in about one hour; you still must sign all the forms you are going to show them there"- after saying her part, she left and closed the door of the small office.

"Yesterday i mentioned the existence of non-humans .. young one, there are beings in this world that can be so strange for us that they are a threat to us. Despite their intent they can end up as bringers of horrors that i hope you never have to witness, least the way i did"- Zo-Khalar rose from his seat and put a hand over his shoulder. "Now i have to go, but I want you to remember something"- Naruto wiped his face with a hand, and paid attention. "You want to become a ruler, a Hokage; isn´t that right?"- He asked, and Naruto nodded and looked at Nishin to the eyes. "Then you´ll understand that neither my words are out of cruelty, nor this explanation is actually out of compassion. With your drive you may very well end up achieving your dream; and then you will protect and do good for your people **at all costs**, to the people you end up understanding. Goodbye, we´ll have to continue talking another time"- He walked to the door and exited the room.

Naruto saw him leave -'So he thinks that he´s like those beings. But he never answered me! How come he´s so certain about him being a monster?'. Something didn´t add up to Naruto; only the displayed strength and the glowing eyes had seemed inhuman to him, and they well could have been a jutsu or something like that.

He shook his head. 'What´s with that old man and those kinda mystic overtones he often speaks with anyways? '- Naruto got up and took a look around the office. The bookcase was filled with a variety of books ranging from history books, psychology volumes, and numerous folders. On the desk were some writing utensils and a framed photograph.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he walked around the desk to take a look at the photo. Only to find the frame was empty, and on the center of the white space left there was something written with small and stylish letters:

_I sent you these_

_With a loving note_

_In lines made with my tears_

_And as the memory fills_

_My precious chamber_

_As the smoke dances_

_Over the raging pyre_

_Again i see you_

_The two of us_

_Enduring a sadness_

_apart _

_a curse that has become my blessing_

_yet when my gaze comes down_

_my hope stays up _

**_Perversion of the dream given to me_**

Naruto remained silent after reading this, grabbing the frame with both hands and looking down at it. 'Wha .. what dream?'- at that moment a tear fell over a corner of the white space, and Naruto wiped his face again. 'Why am i crying? I don´t understand?! '- He hadn´t pieced together what was the meaning of this poem or whatever; but he had started to feel very sad without apparent reason, and it had nothing to do with earlier.

Barely perceptible, very small and faint lines started to appear in the corner where the tear fell. Naruto was dumbfounded while seeing how some of them formed the kanji for *grief* (悲嘆). Compelled, Naruto touched the rune with a thumb; and it disappeared and reappeared on the palm of his hand, glowing with a dark blue light. He looked intently at it for a moment, and then saw it fade without a trace.

Suddenly Naruto snapped out of it and put the frame where he had found it; he was worried that Zo-Khalar would be angry with him, but it hadn´t been his fault. All of it had been so surreal, and so he took off and leaved that office.

**- Streets of Konoha, near the residential district to the northwest. –**

Sakura Haruno was bored. Her friends had been busy preparing for the many tests they would be having next week, and the most exciting thing that had happened to her recently was the gripping speech that the class had received the day before. She wasn´t particularly worried for the tests, well most of them, she always did good when it came to the theoretical subjects; but always had difficulty when it came to the practical aspects of being a ninja, she believed it was only because she had no one to help her at home due to coming from a civilian family.

'Well, i guess i can go to the library and try to do something productive'- and so she started to walk towards her destination. She could overhear some rumors from distressed merchants about some demon that came yesterday, and saw some of them pointing at small incisions in the walls of some buildings; but even then, she didn´t see what was the big deal if everything was solved now and decided to ignore them.

Just when she was about to cross the street, she saw her classmate Naruto hurriedly exiting a building; who came to a stop after seeing her and tentatively waved at her.

Since meeting him the year before, the constant attempts of Naruto to ask her out had annoyed her and led to her trying to distance herself from him. Even though, she had to admit that it was partly because of the rumors surrounding him, and that she had seen how some children tried to deliberately avoid him meanwhile most laughed at him for his antics and clownish attitude. Nonetheless, she had noticed a change in him these last weeks; he hadn´t asked her out in a while, and he didn´t pull as many pranks during class as usual. Maybe he was finally growing up. And so she politely waved at him and waited for him to reach her.

"Hello Sakura-chan! How are you doing?"- Naruto was surprised to meet his crush in the streets like this. This was very welcome after everything that had happened in the office; it would help him forget about it until he could talk about it with Hokage-jiji.

"Fine, thank you Naruto; and you?"- she answered him.

"Great! huh .. what are you doing?"- he asked curiously.

"I´m going to the library to study; maybe you should go too Naruto. The teachers said your grades are awful, aren´t you worried?"- Sakura had a lecturing tone while saying this.

He pouted -"but that is so boring Sakura-chan ..". Then he suddenly remembered something -"hey, can i accompany you for a while and ask you a question?".

'He continues to be so immature'- then aloud she continued. "Sure"- and both of them started to walk down the block.

She saw that his face was scrunching up a little while he was trying to figure out how to ask her what he wanted to know; she thought it was a little childish but it was also funny in a way, and so she remained silent for several minutes while walking towards her destination.

While the both of them passed a street filled with vendors she became acutely aware of the angry looks the people around were giving to the both of them. 'Wha .. why are they so upset with us?'- then she noticed that the glares were directed particularly towards Naruto, who was ignoring them at the moment. 'What did Naruto do to piss off so many people? '- she didn´t understand at all, but decided to not ask him about it for now.

After they reached an almost empty street with a park filled with greenery to the side Naruto spoke. "Huh .. what would you do if someone you don´t know very much suddenly appeared out of nowhere and tried to rescue you, and then avoided you when you tried to thank them for that, Sakura-chan?"- He waited for her answer; his Sakura-chan was so smart! Surely she could help him.

Sakura hummed thoughtfully at that. She remembered about all the handsome princes and knights that had rescued beautiful princesses that she had read about in her romance novels; they always were taken by surprise, but after looking at each other´s eyes and kissing passionately they knew love at first sight and lived happily ever after. In gratitude the princess could give herself to him, and they usually accepted them- 'But something like that would only work if the rescuer of Naruto was a girl .. '.

"The one who rescued you, was it a girl?"- She guessed.

"wha .. how did you know? .. uh, i mean of course not! i´m talking about a friend of a friend here!"- Naruto tried to assure her. It wouldn´t do if his Sakura-chan thought he needed to be rescued by girls!.

"Huh huh"- she briefly glanced at him with incredulity, and giggled a little at his desperate antics to convince her. "Anyways; then you could tell this friend of yours that maybe he should arrange it so they could talk privately, so he could passionately tell her how that made him see her in a new light .."- she trailed off for a bit, thinking about how much she wished for some handsome shinobi to rescue her and fall in love with her someday. "and if everything goes well, perhaps even thank her with a kiss"- she dreamily continued.

'Passionately? Kiss her? But .. '- Naruto was aghast; here his Sakura-chan was telling him to go kiss Hinata, who he barely knew, instead of reserving himself for her!

The pair reached the door of the library, and Sakura turned fully to Naruto and laughed at the expression on his face –"Look, it isn´t hard; just thank her in private whenever you can. I have to go now, see you at school Naruto". She entered the library while Naruto remained outside, slowly waving in goodbye and staring dumbly at the now closing doors.

**-**** Han´ei; farming village near the capital of Fang country –**

On a dirt road passing besides a field filled with cattle, a small wagon was being ridden by a short farmer wearing a straw-hat, accompanied by 2 plain looking men and one woman with unkempt black hair. This sight would have convinced almost anyone that they were just a family of farmers returning to their farm after selling their produce at the capital. However; the truth was that all but one of them were Shinobi under a flawless _Henge_/ _transformation technique_.

"This fucking shithead! How does he dare to have us run the errands for him while he drag us all over the country?!"- the single woman in the group angrily whispered to no one in particular.

"I can hear you, you know?"- the short man with the reigns of the horses turned to her. The illusion covering his eyes also hid the insanely cruel look that was always present on his face; but didn´t do much to camouflage the ominous presence that always accompanied him.

While the woman stared venomously at him, one of the men besides her tried to placate her "Tayuya-san, I hope you haven´t forgotten the orders from our Lord; just because you´re tiring doesn´t mean we can stop this mission"- he spoke quietly to her.

"Your friend Jirobo has the right idea. We can´t rest while we are distributing this cargo, but once we are finished your leader will most likely reward us. I can hardly wait"- the man wearing the straw-hat was grinning; he was pleased with the monster that would be brought upon this land, called forth by these special beacons, and everything he would learn from it.

The third man suddenly raised his hand and made a gesture signaling everyone to be silent, they were being followed.

"Who´s there! Come out right now!"- the disguised pale teen named Sakon shouted while facing back the road.

A shadow slowly began to separate from a tree near the fence, revealing a Shinobi which wore a plain white mask. He immediately showed them a scroll and let it roll a few steps over the ground towards them.

The three shinobi remained in guard; while the disguised acolyte smiled and calmly whispered a few unintelligibly phrases, and then briefly scanning the space around them. Only he heard the voices telling him that there were no other humans in the area.

"Oh! don´t worry. I recognize this young man. He belongs to ROOT, and through him their leader knows he can safely contact me"- the disguised arcane got up, came forward and picked up the scroll. Tayuya and their companions started to become disturbed when he then began to read it, while nonchalantly putting a hand over the head of the unmoving ROOT agent. A glowing red rune appeared in the back of the hand, and the body of the kneeling Shinobi started to tremble. It only lasted for a minute or so, and then the convulsing masked one collapsed to the ground; while the sorcerer stored the scroll away into one of his pockets.

"It´s almost done"- he turned to the wary Shinobi accompanying him. "I just erased the memories of our little encounter, he´ll now return to his base. But before he does that, I have decided to agree to the purchase his leader made. This one will be carrying the bought egg and the instructions about it towards him. We´ll have to collect our payment in about four days"

"What the fuck are you!"- The girl could feel that their client had many other powerful and hidden runes inscribed in his body. She knew that runes worked differently than seals, they were simply marks with astounding effects only on certain individuals who knew how to use them. Detectable only by the strange presence they tended to broadcast; for most people it felt like a light pressure that made breathing slightly difficult.

Until now her group had noticed little things, like his constant sickening presence and the disturbingly distant look he adopted while talking to any of the civilians they had seen; but it was slowly becoming evident they were dealing with someone almost as twisted as their Lord, Orochimaru.

"That, you already know my dear"- his creepy smile showed his enjoyment. "But let´s not keep drawling, shall we? Jirobo, if you could be so kind to use your special technique on both of us for about ten minutes? inside that environment i´ll perform the needed preparations to our unwitting carrier. After all, the egg shall need a host until it hatches"- he was standing beside the still convulsing ROOT Shinobi.

Jirobo hesitated a little but complied

"_Earth release: Ishi no hara/ Belly of stone_"- a massive cupule of earth surged and trapped both of them.

No sound at all could be heard from the inside; and with the slow passing of minutes they started to question their own safety, traveling with a man who callously and so efficiently did these kinds and worse to anyone.

When the time was up, the dome crumbled from the inside; Jirobo was astonished that his chakra-draining technique was canceled just like that. The sinister man came walking from the cloud of dust, and dropped the unconscious and normal looking masked Shinobi behind some bushes.

"With that done we are all set to continue"- he took the reigns of the horses again and continued to ride the wagon down the road.

The three shinobi guarding him took notice of the blood staining his hands and the wide-spread and small spots in his clothing; which with a casual thought, he covered with another seal-less illusion. The text written in the tome hidden in his robes glowing with a yellow light for just a moment.

* * *

**A/N: **Hi everyone! sorry for the delay but i have been very busy IRL and had to correct some details in the previous chapters.

On this chapter there is 1 easy anime reference, and 1 reference very similar to one in a current Bestselling fiction. 10 internet points if you can find them :)

Currently working on the next chapters and looking for a Beta-reader. See you later.


	4. Arc one: Closed eyes) Feelers

**Outer Maelstrom: Shinobi´s Grasp**

**Disclaimer: **I don´t own _Naruto_ by Masashi Kishimoto or the _Cthulhu mythos _by H. P. Lovecraft and his collaborators but this fanfic and the OC´s are of my own creation.

**-** " Speaking aloud and normally"-

- " _Incorporeal voice/ words heard while dreaming, remembering or hallucinating ; also a Jutsu or technique being intoned or used_ "-

- " _**Deep and ominous i**__**ncorporeal voice**_ "-

- ' Thoughts ' -

* * *

_**First Arc: "Closed eyes"**_

_**Chapter 4: Feelers **_

* * *

( The masks of the people here leave me speechless ˃

( Even then, your kind and them share the same weakness ˃

* * *

'Never before had i dealt with something like this'- Ibiki Morino had been the head of the Torture and Interrogation department (T&I) of Konohagakure for many years already; his stoicism and sharp mind allowed him to accurately read almost anyone and while he had interrogated a very small number of prisoners who talked a different language, none of them had had a behavior as unusual as his most recent prisoner.

While he was seated in his office at T&I, an assistant wearing a plain gray uniform was reporting to him all he had managed to observe from the captured intruder until now.

"And he remained acting like this until early this morning; he would sleep reclined against the bars of his cell for a few hours, only reacting when we brought him food. And then he would eat it very slowly while looking at us with a hollow unblinking gaze. Then sleep again, wake up crying and so on and on"- the assistant had been one of the people who had brought him dinner, and some of the mannerisms he had seen had obviously disturbed him thought Ibiki.

"Today, the boy awoke at around 4:00 a.m, and then somehow snapped the metal wires tying his hands; made a loop with the bunch of them, and rang them against the metal bars"- the assistant didn´t know how the boy had managed to free himself. "I and two others went to see him, and he started to try to talk to us and to gesticulate wildly. We bathed him with a hose. He looks way more alive now and seem quite hysteric"- The assistant continued.

Ibiki listened to all of this, while reading the more thoroughly written report given to him. 'Most of what is described here points to what would be expected of an imprisoned and frightful kid; but there are some strange details'- He mused to himself. 'Leaving aside his snapping of 3mm metal wire, the fact that he slept against the bars instead of going to a corner is atypical amongst prisoners taken like this. Also, he didn´t sniff the food or try to taste it first in order to detect drugs; but deliberately seemed to gulp each bite while looking at the guards .. '- considering that even his hand gestures were so quick and difficult to interpret, he knew that most of the revelations would come when the Hokage, the head of the Yamanaka clan, Anko and the dignitary that she would bring for some reason came here anytime now.

After a few minutes he dismissed his assistant and wrote his new conclusions.

Three hours later; the Third Hokage, Inoichi Yamanaka, Anko Mitarashi and Jin Shibara entered his office. After the due greetings and introductions the entourage proceeded to walk the hallway to the holding cells.

"I read the report you sent me late yesterday Ibiki-san and it had given me some ideas about how to proceed with the interrogation, but I would still like to hear your most recent conclusions if you would, please"- Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced from the corner of his eyes at Ibiki while they were walking.

"Sure Hokage-sama; our preliminary observations of the subject initially pointed to several mental afflictions, amongst them being emphasized a compulsive need for physical proximity with any other people and recurrent nightmares. These and other almost psychotic behaviors ceased this morning, when the boy adopted a passive-aggressive disposition that remains even now. Overall, i would say that the difficulty to make a more accurate reading comes from his unusual and complex expressions"- Ibiki finished his explanation.

"I see. We´ll just have to simplify this using a forbidden jutsu that all of you must consider an S-rank secret of this village"- Sarutobi received their assent, and went to stand in front a cell closed with black metal bars.

Inside, there was a simple bed supported by a couple of chains and a small tanned boy seating cross-legged in the floor near the bars. His eyes just opening and revealing unnatural golden irises trained on them with defiance.

'Even though this is the same shrimp from yesterday, he looks so different now .. it feels like encountering a tiger face to face for the first time'- Anko noticed that even though his hands were resting loosely on his legs, the muscles of his neck remained tense.

'I also cannot see the black veins he had yesterday, where those some kind of technique? '- she supposed the Hokage had also noticed it.

The silent standoff continued for a few moments, until the imprisoned boy reached a hand to push down the bandages covering his mouth and lowered his gaze to the ground in front of him.

The Hokage noticed something in those eyes that gave him a familiar feeling - 'where have I seen an expression like this before .. '. A memory from an evening almost five years ago came to mind; he and a few ANBU had rescued a very young Naruto from a traitorous and experienced genin who was attempting to kill him, the boy had looked extremely frightful but after comforting him he had had a guarded expression like the one he was seeing now, if only for a moment. A mix of hurt that someone would hate him so much and repressed anger at the absence of a reason for it that he could understand.

Perhaps he could test his language comprehension first. "Hiruzen Sarutobi"- he said while pointing at himself.

Immediately, the tanned boy turned his attention back to him. "Yagan"- he pointed at his chest with two fingers, while his thunderous voice resounded in the room despite it´s low volume.

Then, with the suddenly black-clawed index of his right hand he started to scrape the stone floor of the cell; drawing a circle filled with trees beside him.

Next, he drew another circle but filled with what seemed like houses, apart from the previous one. "Shinobi village"- he pointed to the houses. "Not Shinobi village"- now he was pointing at the circle with the trees.

"I hunt, you damn me?"- he continued, "you can´t, YOU CAN´T!"- he growled while furiously looking at the Hokage to the eyes.

'So he breached the forbidden training area because he had claimed it as part of his hunting grounds; if that is true then all of this is just a misunderstanding'- Inoichi hoped this was the case and that it wasn´t some misbegotten infiltration operation made by another village, it would have to be to send such a young child. He also took notice of his fragmented and coarse speech, giving him an idea of how he had been learning the language.

"Shinobi village Konohagakure"- the Hokage pointed to the circle with the houses, "Shinobi village Konohagakure, but I am not going to damn you"- he then said while also pointing at the circle with the trees.

Yagan had rose up while Sarutobi talked, and after he finished a loud clang was unexpectedly heard in the entire hallway.

With not a single movement that allowed anticipating it, the boy had rushed and smashed his head against the iron bars, creating a visible bending in one, while his trembling hands took a hold of them.

Everyone that the Hokage had brought, except him himself, had flinched in alarm at the display before them, and awaited orders from their leader.

'So much crude strength in such a tortured child .. '- Jin Shibara just had to contemplate for a moment the miserable expression partially hidden by the bangs overshadowing the boy´s face to know that he hadn´t believed the Hokage, perhaps he would never do.

Hiruzen Sarutobi found himself at a crossroads, he could reject this instable boy and avoid the risks he would bring or he could accept the deal of the goddess and find a way to properly take him in.

He had already determined that he wasn´t a spy and weighted the pros and cons that he could see; but now, looking at him and remembering everything he had been able to read from him there were too many things that had reminded him of the darkest moments of a person who he already thought of as another grandson.

His choice made, he signaled the others to stand idle and brought a glass sphere from his robes. Making some quick one-handed seals to give pretense, he looked upon the now glowing orb in his right hand and then subvocalized –"Shion".

"_Greetings again leader of Konoha, do you accept the terms of our deal?_"- The feminine voice only could be heard by the resolute Hokage, while time itself seemed to slow down.

'Yes, i ask for your help and accept the terms'- Hiruzen answered.

"_Then it´s done. My first advice is one that you should remember very well: don´t let my child know for now that you had seen me and can hear my voice. This would distress him greatly and he isn´t mature enough yet to even begin to be able to deal with it. For him, it would be as shocking as it would be for a human a meeting with a Kami that favors another mortal being more_"- the voice had taken a more energetic tone.

'Thanks, i´ll have it in mind'- He responded. "Could you also give me some hints in order to reassure him so he´ll let me take care of him and teach him our ways"- Sarutobi continued.

A brief silent moment passed, during which these words and feelings were analyzed by the alien goddess.

"_The spoken language it´s not a barrier as extreme as it would seem, remember that most of Human communication isn´t dependent on it. First be human, Second grandfather and Third Shinobi _"

"_Your intent is honest. How do you want for him to look at you? as a leader, a teacher, a parent? Then don´t be afraid of him; he longs for what it´s entailed more than you can imagine. Tell him your offer without words and even the part of him that is horrified by some things he had seen your kind do, will bow down_"- the ethereal voice assured him.

'That means he´s truly at his breaking point, this is why he seems so self-contradictory and anxious all the time'- the Hokage remembered all that his student Jiraiya had told him, and everything else he knew about the alien child; and just like that he knew what he could do.

The orb stopped glowing and Sarutobi pocketed it again, and then he turned towards Ibiki -"now i have understood what must be done; open the door and let me enter to his cell"

Almost all of the group he had brought were shocked at him, not understanding the forbidden jutsu their Hokage had performed. Only Ibiki Morino remained impassive –"I see that you are sure about this; very well, Anko-san get ready in case he attempts to make a break for it". Ibiki unlocked and opened the door beside where the wild-looking boy was supporting himself against the bars.

Sarutobi entered the cell and stood in front of Yagan, who straightened and turned to him but remained looking down.

"Yagan"- Sarutobi said, and when the boy looked at him he put his left hand over his right shoulder. Undeterred by his look of incredulity he shook his head at him, firmly took his hand and embraced his trembling body.

Jin Shibara could hardly believe the bold approach of his calculative friend, and a quick glance to the rest of the group revealed that he wasn´t the only astonished one.

Inoichi Yamanaka witnessed how his Hokage briefly traced a long ashen scar in the back of the strange child, and his embrace turned tighter while murmuring apologies.

'This is a dangerous break from protocol'- Ibiki mused to himself, considering the possibility of ending up misleading someone who obviously belongs to a different culture.

'Way to go Old Man! '- when Anko saw the boy start to embrace the Hokage back and break down in a half-drowned cry she knew that her late suspicions about the shrimp had been right all along.

After a while, waiting for Yagan to calm down, Sarutobi separated from him and showed him his bleeding hand, because he had made a cut in the back of it with a kunai pocketed in his robes. The boy looked at it, then at the face of the Hokage and moved both of his hands towards the wound; but Hiruzen stopped him with a shook of his head, and took a first aid kit from his robes to show him how to apply the disinfectant and to use the thread and needle to close the wound with stitches.

Yagan paid rapt attention to all of this, and even sniffed the disinfectant bottle, until the impromptu lesson ended and the Hokage moved, exiting the cell.

The forest´s child looked disheartened while he went; until the Hokage turned and offered his good hand to him, expecting him to come.

When the group saw the smile that appeared on his face, they could see for the first time what the true face of the supposed monster was.

'I accept my defeat this time. It would have been too chancy for me to accomplish this, i think. Well played, but I can still find a way for the boy to help me'- Jin Shibara resisted the urge to applaud the Hokage.

Just when Yagan was about to take the hand he suddenly stopped and his expression dimmed.

Looking up at the concerned Hokage with a sad smile, he shook his head at him.

Everyone else stood waiting to see what would come of this; and they saw with increasing uncertainty and disappointment how Yagan took a few steps back while facing the Hokage and kneeled to him with a knee and his right clenched fist on the floor, with the left hand behind his back, just like the Shinobi warriors of old.

- **Restricted section of the Research facility of Konohagakure, located near the West gate –**

Disguised with a careful application of the _Henge_ technique and a normal costume that made him look like one of the scientists there, Kabuto Yakushi had managed to infiltrate this far into the building. However, there were ANBU patrolling the hallways that would lead him to the objective his master had given to him.

Unlike most of the people in this village, when the unknown boy rampaged through the streets the day before yesterday he had recognized him instantly: the child of the Black Woods. The reason for this was because his master Orochimaru had once send a team to retrieve him three years ago, since his reported abilities had intrigued him and wanted to experiment on him. That mission had failed, they lost the opportunity and two experienced Shinobi had died chasing him.

Personally, after reading the report given by the survivors it had become clear to him why his lord had set his eyes on him; such a small child holding his own against a Shinobi team and escaping was simply unnatural. During that encounter he had swiftly and efficiently disabled most of the team, mainly by redirecting their own attacks and receiving the support of a couple of hideous black creatures that resembled some kind of snake and a spider. These didn´t dispel like summons when defeated, but gradually turned into an acrid smoke. It was obvious to the ones that fought him that they weren´t even dealing with a human being.

And so here he was, trying to gain access to the gathered info after studying the remains of the weapon he had carried. Using a genjutsu to make himself invisible he started to walk towards the door at the end, each step exactly simultaneous with those of the ANBU he was following a distance behind.

When he reached the door, he kneeled and started the arduous task of overwriting the security seals without alerting the guards less of ten feet away from him.

It only took him a moment to finish, and then he silently opened the door a minuscule space. A very tiny snake slithered from his sleeves and entered the room; and while Kabuto slowly closed the door, the summoned reptile found the notes on a desk and read them before dispelling itself.

On the way out of the facility the other snakes hidden in his clothes told him of what had been discovered: the wooden sword had had every nook and cranny filled with an unknown black tissue, that evaporated in an acrid gas while some of it´s remains turned into coal.

Kabuto connected the points immediately and smirked to himself –"So a little child who can fight at arguably Jonin level, wields some kind of potent energy similar to electricity, and is able to produce and animate some strange dark tissue that is self-sustaining enough to perform all of those maneuvers, independent from his own". This was far beyond what could be passed as a bloodline limit, Orochimaru would like to hear of this.

**- Hokage´s tower, main reception office –**

Sarutobi had listened to all the suggestions that Inoichi, Ibiki, Jin and Anko had come up about the situation and possible recruitment of the boy named Yagan, he wrote them down and then dismissed them so they could have lunch; with the exception of Anko Mitarashi and the child.

"I have been thinking about the most efficient way to take care of this boy while he learns our language and becomes a citizen of this village, and hopefully a Shinobi later. The main difficulties arise from our current lack of personnel who i could trust with such a responsibility"- The Hokage spoke to Anko and Yagan, who was shifting slightly in his chair.

"Hokage-sama, would this mean that you have chosen me to take care of him? as a special-Jonin i don´t think i would be able to pay him the full-time attention he would require"- Anko stood beside Yagan.

"Don´t worry about that. I have decided to make use of an old and intensive training program from the times of the second Shinobi War, with many modifications of course"- Sarutobi assured her.

"I´ll make the arrangements so that he can live in an unused room in the basement of this tower, where most of the full-time training will take place"- while talking, he showed them a list of activities, and handed it to the boy.

"Anko; this will also give me an update of the progress of your abilities, so i can continue to test you in order to allow you to take the full-Jonin exam and receive a Genin team. I want you to supervise him only at fixed hours, making sure that he understands and complies with the daily schedule on that program, you think you can do it?"- He asked of her.

"Hai! Hokage-sama"- she was glad that she would finally have a chance to become a full-fledged Jonin of the village, perhaps then she would start to be trusted more despite her past.

"And you Yagan, you´ll have to obey this list. Do you understand?"- He now looked at the child.

He looked a little confused, but nodded nevertheless –"I´ll obey the list. I can´t read, she´ll do it?". After the Hokage nodded, he continued –"food? sleep?".

At this point Sarutobi began to suspect that Shion had begun to slowly trickle him her knowledge about the language - 'I wonder how she could be doing this? how does he perceive her? '.

He pointed to Anko –"Anko will show you"; the boy just looked at him puzzled.

'So much for miraculous understanding of almost every word'- Hiruzen thought to himself, then he answered him –"she´ll tell you".

Yagan then got up of his seat and addressed them both –"Hokage-sama, pretty Anko; too nice to me. No more shield, too tired. Sword yours, Hokage-sama. I will obey".

Then he started to kneel like before, but Sarutobi stopped him with a gesture of his hand while internally sighing in exasperation at his antics. It felt wrong to him for such a small and scarred boy to do that, while always keeping that intense look of his.

Anko was a little amused with the kid, she had believed that he would fear her because of what she had done to him during their fight.

Then suddenly they heard a knock at the door, and the Third Hokage said that they could come in.

Yamato and two other member of his current ANBU team entered the room wearing their masks and uniforms.

Just after Yagan had taken a quick look at them his eyes widened and hastily jumped, bounced off the ceiling with his feet and hid trembling behind the Hokage.

The new arrivals just stood there looking at them, while Anko and the Hokage remained silent for a moment.

'So he does seem to remember something from the chase; although i think that there´s more to this'- Anko mused to herself while looking at Yagan, who remained hidden and with his eyes closed behind the Hokage

Sarutobi just reached a hand towards the bridge of his nose -'and to think that i was just about to send the respective messages so that the civilians and Shinobi knew that we had taken him in'.

'Though, it seems as if there are some other things to do before that. It just took a look at their masks for him to react this way; i should make sure that he stops fearing the ANBU like this'

He then patted the panicking boy on the head –"Yagan, they obey me. Nobody is going to hurt you". Then he told Anko to take the boy to his new room, and waited until they had exited the office to briefly explain the situation to the ANBU that had come to report to him.

When they were alone in the hallway, Yagan proceeded to closely follow Anko while grabbing at her coat.

'He´s somewhat clingy isn´t he'- she glanced at him while they walked. She was unsure if she could ask the many questions that bothered her about him when he could only understand some words.

Anko decided to try something like what the Old Man did; she smirked and pointed to herself –"Anko-sensei".

He looked up at her –"sensei? .. will you hurt me, teach me, and order me?"

She noticed the natural way in which he said this, without a single hint of fear or discomfort; blocking out her own painful memories she answered him –"a sensei teaches". This assignment wasn´t going to be easy at all.

**- Streets of Konohagakure, in front of the Ichiraku´s ramen stand –**

Naruto found himself sitting on a bench, looking up at the darkening sky. So far it had been a very slow Sunday, and it was late in the afternoon now.

A little earlier he had been lucky and the Hokage had agreed to come to eat ramen with him; now he waited for him to arrive.

After a few minutes, the figure of the Sandaime could be seen walking towards him.

"Hokage-jiji!"- Naruto ran towards him, and they hugged.

"Ho! easy my boy!"- Sarutobi looked way more relaxed now, happy that his surrogate grandson seemed to be doing well.

Without much preamble the two of them entered the ramen stand.

"Hi Ayame-neechan! Finally Hokage-jiji could come with me!"- excited, he also greeted her father, who was washing dishes.

"Nice to see you Naruto-kun!, it has been a while since you last came; and you too Hokage-sama!, I hope you are not ditching us"- Ayame mockingly pointed at Naruto with a ladle while saying this.

When he responded –"no way!", she continued –"then what would you like to order".

"Today i´m inviting, so i´ll have a miso ramen while Naruto has the usual"- Hiruzen told her.

"Coming right up!"- she walked to the kitchen area. Naruto´s expression then dimmed a little –"Hokage-jiji after this could we walk in the park for a while? There´s some stuff that i want to talk to you about".

Sarutobi nodded to him. Their food ready, they gave their thanks and began to eat their dinner while chatting about the progress of Naruto at the academy and some trivial topics. In front of the kid, an impressive stack of ramen bowls were piling up as time passed.

When they were finished and their meal was paid they left the stand, crossed the street and walked towards a small park that was near.

"Ahh, i really needed that. Thanks again Hokage-jiji! That was awesome!"- they found a bench to sit down and rest a little.

Sarutobi chuckled –"i´m glad that you liked it". Then he turned a little more serious –"Naruto, those bags under your eyes .. are you not sleeping well?"

The Uzumaki sighed and answered him –"yes, that´s one of the things that i wanted to tell you about, they feel like they have been piling up"

"Sorry my boy, these last weeks i have been so busy that i didn´t find a chance for us to catch up"- Hiruzen answered him.

"It´s ok Old man, i understand"- Naruto smiled at him.

The Hokage was a little concerned –"what´s wrong Naruto?".

Some fireflies started to fly and dance before the two of them, and Naruto turned more serious –"it started a couple of weeks ago; i had a strange and scary dream about a man with weird eyes with rings in them. And from there, i continued to have strange and sort of real-like nightmares ever since; most of them about monsters lurking in a huge forest shrouded in mist", he shuddered a little.

An alarm went off in Sarutobi´s mind, although his expression remained unchanged -'no, this couldn´t be the Dream cycle that Jin told me about. He said that the people with that ability came from Rylek; it must be something else, please let it be something else!'.

"Maybe it´s just that you have been stressed out my boy; but just in case, please come to my office tomorrow after classes to make sure"- after he saw Naruto nod to him, he continued –"something else has happened?".

"Yes, yesterday i visited an old man named Zo-Khalar Nishin, he had explained some things in class and i was left with some doubts"- Naruto distractedly tried to catch a firefly in his hand but failed.

"He was very helpful; but we also argued a little over an encounter i had the day before with a smelly boy around my height".

The Hokage was a little confused –"why did you fight? Was he a classmate?".

Naruto shook his head –"no, he wasn´t. He came from behind a dumpster, all icky with blood and dirt, and almost hurt me and Hinata".

"When he appeared with a kunai in hand, first he talked in a weird way and then rushed towards us when Hinata cried for help. He discarded his weapon and i stopped him, Nishin-san praised me for it, and then they took him away"- turning to look at the Hokage, he continued.

"It felt wrong, so i talked to Nishin-san about it. He was so convinced that it had been the attack of a true monster or whatever; it didn´t feel that way to me!"- Surely Hokage-jiji could understand him.

Sarutobi put a hand on his shoulder –"I also think that you were right, but please don´t be so upset about it. Zo-Khalar-san was probably just focusing on your safety".

Naruto relaxed a little –"hm .. right". After a moment he added something –"anyway after he left the room i looked at some photo on his desk, but it was empty except for some sort of poem .. it made me cry some". Somewhat embarrassed, he continued –"and suddenly some small kanji appeared and passed onto my hand when i touched it; it glowed and then vanished".

Hiruzen looked onto Naruto while he examined his right hand –"Naruto, those sound like runes. Could you draw them here?". He took out a pencil and a small notebook from his robes, and handed them to him.

"Sure, but what are runes Hokage-jiji?"- Naruto took the items and started to draw.

The Sandaime thought of a way to explain it as simply as possible –"hmm; well it´s easy to confuse them with seals, like those they have taught you at class, but actually they are very different. Runes are symbols, some easily read and others that aren´t so, written in order to achieve some effects or reinforcements. To use them, you can prepare the ink with special procedures and reagents so the rune will remain constantly activated after you translate it to another certain language in your mind and wait for it to be recognized; or you could just do the translation and waiting for acceptance in order to activate some of them"

"Uh recognized? and what effects could they have? How come they don´t teach about them at the academy?"- Naruto handed back the utensils to the Hokage, curiously looking up at him.

"That´s right Naruto. While seals are activated with our own chakra, runes can only be made and expect for them to be activated by beings we cannot normally see; due to the identity of these beings being a secret or even unknown in most cases and the fact that this unreliable knowledge comes mostly from a dangerous cult, we don´t teach anything about it. Although there´s information about them at the library"- The Hokage said while he became a little worried after glancing at the rune that apparently had been inscribed in Naruto".

"As for their effects, they are generally best used as supplementary tools because it´s never certain that they´ll activate or remain that way; unless you can communicate with the entity that triggers it. They can be used to reinforce materials to a great degree, add elemental attributes to weapons, cast a variety of bizarre attacks and defenses, etc."

"It sounds cool! although it´s a shame that they could end up doing nothing just when you need them"- Naruto looked a little down at that piece of information, but then perked up again –"what does mine do?".

"I´m not sure; how about we go to see a friend of mine that is an expert in these kind of things? The sooner you know, it will be better"- Sarutobi remained calm while saying this, despite his inner turmoil - 'it does have similarities to some mind-altering ones that i have seen. This means that it´s likely it have been affecting Zo-Khalar-san ever since he had acquired that frame, or had he himself set it up? .. no, he couldn´t have predicted who next touched it. Oh Naruto .. '.

"Okay, let´s go Old man! I can´t wait to see what new cool stuff mine can do!"- Naruto and Sarutobi got up and left the park, one hopeful and the other somber with worry.

**- Hyuuga clan's grounds, dojo near the central zen garden of the compound -**

Sitting in the traditionally formal position of seiza (the knees bent almost 180 degrees, and with the calves tucked under the thighs so that you sit on your heels) Hiashi Hyuuga, Head of the clan, had managed to make time to observe this training spar between his eldest and youngest daughters.

Hinata nervously looked at her little sister Hanabi -'why father continues to test me this way only to show his disappointment later? He knows that I would never want to hurt my sister .. i have to find some other way, at least something small, for him to approve of me, but i just don´t know!'. The shy girl had to swallow his hurt and despair so she could maintain the stoic and composed mask that she had been taught all Hyuugas must always wear.

The two sisters stood on the polished wood grain floor, making the traditional seal of confrontation.

Hiashi knew he needed to carefully evaluate his daughters in order to choose an heir to the Main house of the clan, and so he gave the signal to begin –"Hajime!/start!".

With a second of delay Hinata imitated her sister, who had activated her _byakugan _and quickly rushed towards her with a cold and determined look on her face.

A series of swift staccatos and slaps starts resonating when the two meet.

Hinata lunged towards Hanabi, her arm outstretched, aiming towards a tenketsu (specific point in the chakra pathway system) low in her neck to stop the fight as soon as possible, only to be easily deflected. She stumbled a few steps before turning around and adopting the _Jūken/ Gentle fist_ stance. Hanabi scoffed slightly and then faced her calmly, mirroring her pose.

The circle walking and evasive circular footwork characteristic of the style were performed with grace and remarkable skill by both of them; however Hiashi slightly narrowed his eyes at noticing that Hinata always ended up pulling her strikes when attacking.

Resuming the battle, Hanabi dashed and attempted to jab with her fingers at her sister´s arms, who was deftly slapping them aside -'I´ll win here, I won´t be sealed and made into a lowly Branch house member!'.

Hanabi´s movements were fluid and efficient, continuing to press Hinata into a defensive situation.

Hinata was growing tired and the numbness she felt where she had been grazed had started to spread; she could feel that she was going to lose again, and the disappointment from her father and some others from the family would continue to tear at her.

From recent memory, she remembered when she stood before the fearsome monster that had tried to harm her Naruto-kun -'I will lose, no matter what´s the result of this. if .. if only i could be like back then, and not freeze .. and actually be able to talk to him again. How could he when not even ...'.

Deep down, she started to suspect that the reason for not finding any means to overcome this, was that she herself had started to doubt what she had to cherish and protect here, at home.

Hanabi felt a slowing down in the arms that had been stopping her –"_Eight Trigrams: thirty two Palms_!". With a flurry of quicker strikes she shut off many tenketsus on Hinata´s body.

"Yame!/stop!"- Hiashi looked upon his eldest daughter, lying defeated on the ground and suppressing sobs, and with some pain in his heart made a choice.

"Hinata, after you recover i want you in my office to discuss your performance here"- the clan Head rose from his position, and then turned to his other daughter –"With this match i have seen enough to reach a decision. From now on Hanabi will be the designated heir of the Main House of the clan".

**- Apartment of Jin Shibara, located in the Eastern Residential district –**

In a small living room adorned with some antiques and a light-auburn rug; the last Shibara acolyte found himself reading a thick manuscript while resting in his couch. He lived alone but comfortably here, he enjoyed the peace and tranquility of his new home; since he started living in Konohagakure his time was usually spend with his daughter and her new family, advising at the civilian council, and occasionally conducting business with merchants. The obscure knowledge he possessed had mostly stopped being useful, until recently.

Someone knocked at his door and he went to see who it was, it has already gotten dark.

"Good evening Jin; i´m sorry to bother you at this hour. Would it be possible for us to talk about a matter that had just come up?"- The voice of Sarutobi Hiruzen could be heard from outside. On the way here, he had quickly contacted an ANBU team and gave them instructions to steal and falsify a certain dangerous item belonging to the consultant Zo-Khalar.

"Oh? Hiruzen? Sure, please come in"- he verified and opened the door for them.

"Jin, allow me to present to you Uzumaki Naruto; Naruto this is Shibara Jin originally from the settlement of Rylek"- Sarutobi entered the room and let Jin look at his company.

"Nice to meet you sir. Are you a friend of Hokage-jiji then?"- Naruto asked after bowing in greeting.

"Yes, you could say that. The Sandaime helped me and my people, and we are very grateful to him for it"- Jin answered, and then continued –"would you like some tea?".

They gave their assent and waited for the elder Shibara to sit with them.

When all of them were sitting at the western-styled table, Sarutobi decided to go straight to the point –"we don´t want to take too much of your time; I brought Naruto here so you could please examine him and look for a rune that might have been inscribed on him, or tell me all you can about the effects of it on him. He was possibly exposed to one at the office of Zo-Khalar-san"

Both of the eyebrows of Jin Shibara shot up at that –"I doubt that Nishin-san would have been so careless as to allow that; however it´s alright i´ll check on Uzumaki-san here".

"Please Uzumaki-san remain steady while I do this, it will be painless"- He closed his eyelids and began to whisper words they couldn´t hear properly.

Naruto looked amazed at how the elder, with his hands on the table and palms up, started to become enshrouded in the blue glow of his chakra; and when he opened his now azure-glimmering eyes, very faint and distorted symbols started to travel from Naruto´s body and through the table to both of the wrinkled hands.

This only lasts for a couple of minutes, and then slowly the room and Jin returned to normal.

"Hmm .. this may be troubling. Uzumaki-san, by any chance have you ever had dreams so real-like that you can remember them perfectly afterwards and any wound you receive there remains when you wake up"- he looked thoughtfully at the child.

Naruto looked back and forth between Jin and the Hokage before answering –"I have been dreaming about very strange things, nightmares about monsters that attack me in a forest almost completely hidden in mist. It always feels very real, and I can remember all of them; i´m never bleeding anywhere when I wake up, but sometimes the pain remains for a while". He saw that the two elders were concerned, and began exchanging meaningful looks between each other –"What? What does it mean?"

"Do you promise to keep all of this conversation as a secret, until the Hokage tells you otherwise?"- When Jin Shibara saw Naruto nodding anxiously, he began his explanation.

"It´s possible that you have started to gain an ability from a rare bloodline limit: to enter the Dream cycle. I promise to explain more of this to you tomorrow; there´s some research to do about this and the runic effect on you, but I think it´s the case because that rune can only be perceived and triggered by Dreamers"- He then smiled comfortingly at Naruto. "In any case there´s nothing to worry about, if i´m correct I could explain the benefits of the bloodline ability to you, and train you to use it correctly"- he then shrugged, and glanced briefly at the Hokage to see his reaction –"I would know, after all i do possess this bloodline limit; even though i haven´t entered the Dream cycle in many years already".

Sarutobi didn´t show any sign that he was surprised by this, he already suspected it after all; but Naruto was excited –"really?! Ok, i´m holding you onto your promise Shibara-san".

The two elderly men chuckled briefly in humor, and then Sarutobi spoke –"Very well, I think that´s enough for today; all of us need to rise early tomorrow. Do you want me to take you home Naruto? I still have to discuss some paperwork with Shibara-san".

"No, it´s okay Hokage-jiji"- Naruto got up from his seat and gave his farewells to both of them before leaving the apartment.

After a moment Jin sighed and composed himself –"He doesn´t have any ancestors from Rylek that you know of, does he?"

After Hiruzen shook his head, he came to the inevitable conclusion –"the prerequisites for someone to be born with this bloodline limit are very strict. This means that he´s not a born Dreamer, he´s developing the ability another way; and i think i know from where"

Hiruzen knew that his old friend had already discovered one of the darkest secrets of Konohagakure, by allowing him to confirm any suspicions with his bizarre ability to peer even inside seals–"you know about the Kyuubi, but how could it be related to this?".

Jin made a gesture as if he were balancing two objects on both of his hands –"it´s more easy for me to believe that the true Dreamer is the Kyuubi no kitsune, as it´s a strange and mighty kind of being, and not little Naruto; however the two of them are entwined in ways outside of my understanding, and the barrier between them is very porous indeed".

"I´m almost completely sure that the presence of the Bijuu inside of the boy was what triggered the fiendish rune. This rune is the most complex one that i have ever seen; most of the inscription is hidden and it creates a distinctive mark on its targets everytime it´s activated, which is esoteric (related to the soul) making it nearly impossible to erase or modify"

Sarutobi turned a grim expression to his friend –"the only way that i know of destroying a rune and its effects is to erase or distort the inscription".

Jin nodded –"that´s the more practical and realistic way to do that. This masterwork amongst runes ensures its effects by leaving the new inscriptions in places unknown to us, inside of living beings. You would need to be extremely skilled and insightful in these subjects to be able to find and remove it"

"About its effect on Naruto and possibly the Kyuubi itself; this mark gradually tweaks the brain and adjusts the mind in order for it to acquire a psionic technique: a mind skill that most likely would be activated non-stop. As I see it; it would randomly create a one-way connection, a form of mind-reading perhaps, from any other mind nearby every time they are subject to the same emphatic emotion: great sadness or grief".

"This is what finishes convincing me that this is nothing more than a trap against any Dreamer in Konoha. A psychic technique like this one, out of control, could easily bypass any known defense and bring the downfall of any acolyte it targets, no matter how powerful you are or what you could do".

"I don´t think such psychic skills are something humans are meant to have or control, besides who would teach you about such a thing?"- The Shibara knew that there were no humans able to perform this kind of technique.

"Can you imagine it? Everytime you feel remotely sad about something, and there are others around you whose feelings could compound on and distort your own .. this always stacking up, someone with just a mild depression could quickly spiral down onto madness and suicide tendencies".

Sarutobi grimly nodded, his thoughts had taken a similar turn to what Jin was describing. He desperately racked his brain for a way to save Naruto from such a fate, while keeping his stony expression -' dammit! i had always dreaded that these alien-related tools would corner us against the walls like this, sooner or later'.

'No! i won´t allow it. There must be a way to save him'- with steel in his resolve, he decided to do as he had done in the previous war. To release the brakes.

"Jin, can she hear us right now?"

The acolyte blinked and looked blankly at him for a moment before answering –"no, Shion can only hear you and your surroundings when you speak to her. Her only other input would be through Yagan; although i don´t think it´s constant, as i told you before".

The Hokage put out the crystal sphere and subvocalized -'Shion'. He felt the time dilate, and then explained the situation they had with Naruto to her, including about his status as jinchūriki of the Kyuubi no kitsune.

"_Mind or psychic techniques can indeed be very treacherous; our mind is our temple after all. Although regrettable, i don´t understand why you come to me; i´m not omniscient and this doesn´t have anything to do with my child_"

'You might know of a way to save Naruto, if so please tell me of it!'

"_I am willing to tell you the alternatives that i see, but are you sure that you would want a being like me to interfere so directly with your world?. This will open grounds for you to continue to ask me about things unrelated to our original agreement_"- just after finishing, she heard the determined but not desperate 'yes' from the pleading leader of men.

"_Very well, i´ll strive to honor your trust. It occurs to me that young Naruto could build a wall of sorts to stop the influx; this could be achieved with enough training, starting with learning how to meditate, from a Sage of insight or a sufficiently skilled monk of your world. This could take much time to accomplish, but this blocker is very important anyway_".

"_A much more reliable and preferable goal would be for him to master the technique; to do this he would need to find an alien willing to teach him, most likely while exploring during a Dream cycle. This would be very dangerous; he must become very skilled and powerful before attempting this_".

"_My own recommended approach would strain the limits of my capacity and both of Naruto´s and your own courage: i could set up the crucial wall to stop the influx to the mind of young Naruto and the Kyuubi. Have in mind that it would likely fall apart in around a decade and i can only do this safely once; with this, the boy could train to become strong enough to brave the expanse during an extended Dream cycle and find someone to teach him to control the ability before the time is up. And even then it would be possible to isolate him or do another arrangement while he finishes his training, only if the allotted time wasn´t enough_"

The Hokage thought hard about all of this, and started to feel hopeful again -'I can agree with your plan and also keeping an eye open for anyone with enough skill and knowledge about these subjects in order to ask for their help. But do you really think that Naruto can quickly become strong enough to seek for a teacher while in the Dream cycle? How should we measure the level where he would be ready?'

"_Hmm_"- after hearing nothing from her for a short while, her voice came back with more enthusiasm than before. "_I certainly had forgotten to brag about my children in this world_. _To avoid the problems in his career as a Shinobi that preferential treatment would bring to the boy, how about Naruto receives the support of my child? I assure you that he could help to boost his training in ways that would astound you; and also a Tera no Kuragari would prove an excellent measuring stick, if he can frequently draw against him Naruto would be ready to face the dreamlands with the odds in his favor. In addition, there´s a chance that he would also receive an early start to learning about mind techniques"_.

Sarutobi Hiruzen could hardly believe his luck –'impossible .. but he´s only a kid, surely a skilled child but how could you make those claims about Yagan?'

"_He would be able to help in this training and in such a way because of how their race thinks and how it could affect those around them: across the realms there are beings that can soar into the upper reaches of the sky, swim at great depths into the oceans, and obliterate anything in sight with a powerful blast; the Tera no kuragari aren´t born with any of these or plenty of others special abilities, however i made them with the means to fail trying and they created the method that allows them to succeed. It actually comes from the human part of their heart_".

Curiously enough, the Third didn´t find this all that hard to believe -'I suppose that i´ll have to be patient so i can see this for myself and get rid of my doubts about it. In the meantime i´ll take your word for it'.

'Another thing, do i take that you intend to also help the Kyuubi by setting the blocker for it too?'- The Sandaime couldn´t help feeling uneasy, if the Bijuu was the true Dreamer and the two were connected like this ..

"_Well, of course; it would likely descend into irremediable insanity otherwise. Is something the matter? .. After all, Naruto will have to build some kind of rapport with it because they will have to team up for their adventure at the dreamlands_"

* * *

**A.N: **- IRL battles are usually so short, aren´t they? especially against two foes like in the spar i pictured in this chapter. If you have some criticism about it, it would be appreciated.

- Also, i know these chapters have been somewhat heavy. I´ll try to lighten the overall mood for the next ones :). Until the next time


	5. Arc one: Closed eyes) Encounter

**Outer Maelstrom: Shinobi´s Grasp**

**Disclaimer: **I don´t own or profit from _Naruto_ by Masashi Kishimoto or the _Cthulhu mythos _by H. P. Lovecraft and his coworkers, but this fanfic and the OC´s on it are of my own creation.

**-** " Speaking aloud and normally"-

- " _Incorporeal voice/ words heard while dreaming, remembering or hallucinating; also a Jutsu or technique being intoned or used_ "-

- " _**Deep and ominous i**__**ncorporeal voice**_ "-

- ' Thoughts ' -

* * *

_**First Arc: "Closed eyes"**_

_**Chapter 5: Encounter**_

* * *

(Despite that i´ll always be an uncanny and dangerous alien to them, i was found deserving of a second chance; wouldn´t you also deserve it all the more? ˃

( … … Delusional ˃

* * *

Konohagakure was widely known for being a place filled with many different cultures, and even contrasting religions, peacefully coexisting. And, although the Eastern way of life had gained a slightly greater influence among the population; many business had chosen to follow a more westernized approach, allowing the merchants to trade diverse craftsmanship designs with other countries.

However, at these early morning hours in a work day it was much more common to see the arrival of farmers looking to sell their produce, and some vendors opening their stalls.

This scene was very widespread among the many villages and even most cities in the continent. Though in a Shinobi village there could be seen some differences, often ignored by the regular citizens but not for those with a more attentive eye; like the shadows beginning to jump across the rooftops and the trees, meaning the start of the routine patrols composed of Shinobi of Chunnin rank and from the ANBU.

They also were continuing the patrols in places much more hidden from the public eye, such as at the buildings which served military or research purposes of a sensitive nature. Something to take note of about these constructions is that many of them, like the Research facility near the West gate, had large basements and even subterranean secret corridors interconnecting them.

One of such dim lit hallways started from the basement of a T&I department office and lead into a peculiar storage room, with shelves upon shelves filled with scrolls where storage seals had been placed.

'It seems that my turn in guard duty it´s nearing the end. I´m lucky that the pickup mission at the Social Service department before this was so easy, i am so tired from doing these duties one after the other all night with no rest in between'- A female ANBU with short brown hair and a simple mask guarded the storage room together with her partner, a quiet black-haired boy wearing also a plain mask and a short-sleeve dark shirt with the midriff exposed.

The boy usually had an expressionless face, but this had slowly begun to change after having met someone who he had already started to consider as an older-brother figure. He had been lucky that he was allowed to wear a mask during this mission, which the leader of the secret organization ROOT where he belonged had assigned to him.

Mentally he had been carefully timing the approaching moment where there would be a change of the patrol turn, this would give him the opportunity he had been waiting for.

With just a couple minutes remaining, unexpected steps of someone approaching from the T&I department could be heard. From the corner, another ANBU appeared before them and bowed in greeting –"Here ID number 219006 to notify both of you that we are shifting to blue protocol 11 in order to receive an immediate update without interrupting the guard duty". After saying this he showed them the signed scroll with said change of orders.

In accordance with this the boy knew that one of them would remain here and await for the other two in order to go retrieve and pass along the update; and so he saw his chance –"Understood; due to my shift not ending until noon unlike my partner, i volunteer to remain at this post and await for you"

"Very well; then you can come with me and then go to rest"- the other ANBU answered him while looking at his partner, whose shift had ended. She nodded towards him in thanks and then the both adults exited the corridor.

After a few moments the boy made a single hand seal and an ink clone formed directly behind him. Then, while the original calmly reassumed his guarding position, the clone turned and kneeled in order to temporarily deactivate the hidden seals in the door before the storage room, an easy task with the original´s fūinjutsu proficiency. With these alarms turned off the clone carefully entered, closing the door behind it.

Quickly and silently the clone dashed towards the shelves at the other side of the room. There it had to temporarily deactivate another security seal, and finally he could take a black scroll within. A triggering of the storage seal on it allowed him to confirm that it contained the frame he was looking for; and so he quickly stored it away in another blank scroll he had with him. After this was done, he took out from his clothes a replica of the frame and started to inscribe it with a seal that would allow it to persist despite being made of the chakra used with the clone technique.

Lastly; the clone sealed this new frame into the black scroll, storing it in the shelf again. Hurriedly, it then dashed to exit the room and neatly opened and closed the door behind it before putting the scroll with his objective in a pocket in the pants of the original; and then the clone dispelled itself without making a sound.

'Mission accomplished'

**- Streets of Konoha, near the Hokage´s tower –**

Hatake Kakashi felt he could finally relax for a little while before delivering the detailed report of his last A- rank mission -'I am a lucky one; the new Icha Icha volume just got out today, one of the rare occasions when i´m in Konoha these days. Now to see what became of Miko-chan ... '. The white-haired veteran was wearing his Jonin vest over his standard dark-blue uniform, and reading the small book.

Glancing lazily about, he could see a crowd forming to a side of the Hokage´s tower, surrounding a stone platform where Mitarashi Anko stood with an annoyed scowl forming on her face besides a small boy wearing ragged shorts, a vine as a bandanna and some bandages; with a tanned skin more commonly found at Lightning country, but with a few strange dark-gray scars. A retired Chunnin named Sasaki, one of the Hokage´s assistants, was also near them and watched over a large sack filled with rusty swords and other things. The strange scene caught his interest and so he walked towards them.

"Yes, I repeat that this is the same boy that caused a ruckus the past Friday. He wants to apologize for that, but since he doesn´t yet know the language very well and he insists so much on also starting to compensate with a little show; we are here to help him for a little while"- Anko had been surprised when her overeager assignment had showed her, at the morning checkup-time, that he already had read the book that he was supposed to start reading today.

He had done that with the intention of learning how to apologize for the damage he had caused when he was chased through the village, despite that he had been under a genjutsu and the ANBU almost killed him; and in order to being able to showcase some of his talents so that they didn´t kick him out for being useless -'according to him … Just what gave him that idea? No one has threatened him with that so far. Although sometimes it´s tempting; he literally doesn´t stop asking questions to everyone working at the tower, and with how clingy he´s becoming you´d think he has a crush on me … of course i don´t blame the shrimp for that, but if he doesn´t tone it down i´m going to start using my special needles on him'.

"That was the yellow-eye demon?"- One of the onlookers started to guffaw. "He just looks like some street-child, and with those bandages to boot"- he continued laughing at the seemingly overly exaggeration.

A well-dressed woman in the small crowd turned and glared at the laughing man –"No, you idiot! he isn´t a normal child. He dodged the ANBU for like hours! damaging walls, windows, and even almost trampling people!".

Suddenly Yagan cleared his throat and stepped forward –"the lady is correct; i unknowingly entered a Shinobi training area of this village, and after I was put under a genjutsu, an illusion, caused damage which i intend to repair" his voice was loud and clear, and together with his piercing gaze and solemn expression somewhat shocked some people in the crowd. "For this offense I hope I can be forgiven"- he continued, bowing deeply and formally.

Some people were already thinking of reassuring the kid that no permanent damage had been done; but many more were slightly disturbed on seeing such expressions on a child so young, they were becoming more interested in knowing where he had come from.

Someone then yelled at him –"I know who you are! Child of the Black Woods! How do you intend to fix all of that? little thief!".

Sasaki and Anko exchanged looks, while Yagan righted himself and looked taken aback before letting his dark bangs obscure his eyes and answering –"The time for me to pay that back will come; but in the meantime, I remember enough to retrace the path I followed during the chase and i will be watched over this afternoon while I repair what I destroyed and wasn´t already fixed".

He looked briefly at Sasaki, who smiled and gave him a discrete thumb up; before walking up the platform and setting up a campfire in front of him and retreating -'I am amazed he guessed correctly what were the most likely things that people would say to him, so he could try to learn how to answer accordingly'.

The spawn of Shion raised his head again and looked at the muttering crowd with determination; and then Anko had to interrupt –"Each of you can reach your own conclusions in your own time. The time allotted for us to do this is running out, so we have to hurry. Without more preambles he will present you with some of his talents, for free. Now! Show them what you can do, shrimp!"; she then jumped down from the dais and noticed some ice cream vendors quickly getting near the crowd, and sweat dropped.

The boy closed his eyes for just a moment, and smiled for only the second time in little more than a decade, since arriving at this world –"I am no shrimp, Anko-sensei. My name is Yagan of the Storm tribe"

When Kakashi heard the thunderclap and felt a sharp spike in the chakra of the strange child, he decided to adjust his headband in a subtle way in order to reveal his _sharingan_.

While the child seemed to briefly consider something about the campfire, the veteran Jonin became perplexed by the inhuman and bizarre vision before him -'How can his body take that?! His chakra system looks more like complex circuits overheated by blindingly intense currents, leaking sparks everywhere'.

Taking a couple of steps while violently clashing two stones which seemed to appear on his hands, one of the sparks flew and lit the campfire.

'Not yet; I don´t want to hide that i don´t belong to their species, I couldn´t anyways; but i can only hope that gradually they notice it on their own and can begin to accept me'- Just then, Sasaki threw an orange from her pouch at Yagan, forcing him to drop the rocks.

Grabbing it while smoothly turning on a foot, he tossed the fruit nearly four stories into the air; and then jumped to the front over the flames. Mid-jump Sasaki hurled another orange at him; seizing it also, his feet touched the floor, and then his whole body whirled to the right and also flung the fruit high into the air.

Suddenly, the mid-sized flames of the campfire abruptly increased their height.

Never stopping his rotation, his right foot clapped against the stone floor and his body was thrust towards the left. Then, two oranges were thrown at him from behind almost at the same time.

Many in the crowd almost screamed when he twisted and went backwards and headfirst into the tall fire, only to swiftly cross through it and towards the flying oranges. A quick reverse handstand allowed him to grasp a fruit with one of his now-clawed feet, finishing his spin and flicking it to his hand and upwards from there while standing only on the other foot, hopping twice on it; and simply snatching the other fruit with a hand. Turning to show his back to the crowd; he then tossed the fourth orange to the sky in the same movement, leaving his arm somewhat extended.

Sasaki, now with the gathering, pitched a last orange straight towards him.

The _sharingan_ sensed the new inner spike of chakra that preluded the messy pause.

A single step to the right, and the entire left arm of the child turned into a blur that reverse- smashed the orange with a loud and almost unnatural *Pop*.

Crouching a little after hopping to the front and over the fire again; he showed a feral smirk over his shoulder, to the crowd; just briefly before his entire body blurred upwards, whirling and out of sight.

Four additional squelching *pops* could be heard just before the body of Yagan fell again into the ground and in front of the campfire, facing the crowd and supporting himself with the help of one hand, his breathing barely changed .

A brief moment passed where the onlookers could begin to absorb what they had just seen. Looking onto the moisture from the orange juice soaking the small child, they were getting ready to applaud him for his acrobatics; before a loud *clang* was heard and a new sight stopped them. From a distance behind him, Anko had thrown a kunai that whizzed past his right cheek and got stuck near the front border of the platform. When Yagan turned his head to look at her, the wound she had left on the side of his face started to bleed and he winced because of the sting. It was at this moment that the rhythmic beating of a drum started to sound.

She smirked at him with a sadistic glint in her eyes –"You are a shrimp until you prove otherwise; and now for the final act. Get ready!". In an instant, she stood next to the sack and began to toss four rusty 90-inches blades at his direction, one after the other.

Quickly getting up, the child turned around and started to catch the swords by their handles or flat sides, near their ends; juggling the four of them into the air, while his steps shifted around the flames. This continued for around ten minutes, with the tempo of the beat increasing.

His hands and fingers were slowly collecting small cuts that stung, however he never lost his concentration. And then, the beating of the drum suddenly stopped; which signaled him to toss the sword currently on his grasp upwards, followed by gracefully collecting the falling swords by their endpoints behind his back so he could then present the metallic and fan-shaped arrangement to the audience with his right hand. Then, he proceeded to bow to them while moving his occupied hand to the side and over his left shoulder, when the drum was beaten one single and last time.

A moment of silence passed, and then the crowd erupted in applause. To the civilians, this brief spectacle had looked more like a circus performance; although the movements of the boy were reminiscent of some ritualistic dance around a bonfire.

'Well done. Do you see?, you can find a place here'- Sasaki had a kind a smile on her face while she applauded together with the crowd, a small drum now hanging from her hip.

For Hatake Kakashi and the other Shinobi watching however, this had displayed much more about the foreign kid that had recently joined the village.

'Somehow he was never caught off guard; and even if most of those feats were easy for Shinobi from Chunnin rank and above, he did them without really using any chakra at all. In fact, it doesn´t seem like he has any training on controlling it'.

'Besides, he didn´t seem surprised when Anko-san hurt him; mmhm … so those were planned, maybe a purposeful demonstration of weakness?. I´ll have to keep an eye on him'- he adjusted his headband again in order to cover his transplanted eye, and continued on his way towards the Hokage´s tower.

To the back of the crowd, the lone figure of Zo-Khalar Nishin had been staring coldly at the spectacle put upon by the child -'foolish being, you may as well have shouted it from a rooftop. The countdown to your end has begun'. The senior consultant lightly shook his head and exited the area through a dark alley to the side.

After a few minutes the gathering of curious onlookers started to disperse; and Anko, Sasaki and Yagan proceeded to clean the platform and retrieve the equipment they had left lying around.

The group then started to walk towards the Hokage´s tower while chatting away.

"Wow, at the beginning I had doubted this would work; especially with the small amount of details you gave to us, and then with that guy recognizing you, but you did great shrimp"- Anko grinned towards Yagan while carrying the sack with the blades.

He pouted and looked away –"I don´t know why you keep calling me seafood. Not want to eat me". The boy then turned a somber expression towards his legs and feet, the only part of his body where a few black veins could be seen reaching to the claws on his toes –"Some were freaked out, maybe a bad idea".

Uchiha Sasaki softly sighed and turned to correct him for the umpteenth time –"It´s not *Not want to eat me* nor *maybe a bad idea*; you say: *you don´t want to eat me* and *maybe this was a bad idea*". When she saw that Yagan turned to her and nodded thankfully, she continued –"and anyways i think that you´re overthinking this; here in Konohagakure there are plenty of people with bloodline limits more eye-catching than that, and they are accepted and greatly respected"

"That said, i agree with Anko-senpai; you only told us that you´d first juggle fruit in front of the crowd and around a fire, making sure to splash the juice over yourself. And then someone would have to wound you for all to see, before you started to juggle swords thrown at you. I honestly still don´t understand why you did all of that"

Anko then chimed in –"or keep those weird veins on your legs, amongst other things".

Yagan kept a thoughtful expression while staring ahead, absentmindedly he opened the door of the tower and answered them –"the juice halted my quick healing only of skin wounds, showing them that despite being a freak i could bleed and hurt just like them".

'Just .. just who called him that?!'- the two kunoichi were astounded at the nonchalantly way in which he said this.

"And as for this technique now on my legs and feet, it takes me much time to set up or withdraw; it helps me climb and do some other things better, also great training tool"- He started to help in putting the equipment they borrowed in different places around the vestibule of the tower, and meanwhile he turned to curiously look at his instructor –"umm, Anko-sensei; what is a bloodline limit?".

"It´s *also it´s a great training tool*"- she idly replied, and then looked at him again –"A bloodline limit is an ability that allows you to do things that others can´t, it comes from traits or characteristics passed down from parents to their children".

Yagan looked thoughtful at that, musing to himself –"then all of those things i can do since being born that people here can´t do, and i have built upon, would be a bloodline limit? A bird flying would be because one of those? .. azarette/ it can´t be"

Anko looked a little confused at him –"A bird? No, only people have it. I don´t know if you come from a clan belonging to this Storm tribe or whatever, but your bloodline limit would come from there"

Sasaki then interrupted them, leaving the confusion unsolved –"Well, we´re all done here. Now Yagan-kun, I want you to go to the bathroom to clean yourself like a big boy this time and not go to the stream; or else i´m going to tell Ibiki-san that you would like for his people to use the hose on you again"

He started to stubbornly shake his head at her; before she took a napkin and started to clean his face while he feebly attempted to stop her –"seriously, what are we going to do with you?". She then started to drag Yagan to another room; pausing only for a moment to turn in the direction of Anko -"Good day Anko-senpai, i´ll see you later".

After Sasaki closed the door behind them, Anko could still hear the muffled voice of the strange kid they had taken in.

"But in the stream i can also eat fish; also that place is weird and the smell of those things in the bathroom will give me away while hunting, i eihren/attach things to this vine on my head to help me avoid that .."- his voice trailed off after they went farther away.

Anko was glad that the Hokage´s assistant seemed to have taken a liking to her new student, and was helping her. It had only been barely a day, and already she was growing somewhat tired of all of his quirks and non-stop questioning -'it seems like he truly has been living in the wilderness all this time. At least he seems to learn quickly; although i think that he simply compensates by working with almost no sleep, like a squirrel on coffee or something like that'

Walking up the stairs, she entered the lounge room before the Hokage´s office. There, she found one of the most prodigious shinobi and assassin of their village resting on a couch while indifferently reading his porn-filled novel.

"Maa .. that´s an interesting kid you´ve taken under your wing, Mitarashi-san"- the last of the Hatake clan turned in her direction, with his usual one-eye smile on place.

Mitarashi Anko smirked –"You´ve got it right. However, *interesting* is too mild a word for him. The shrimp is a handful but the Hokage believes that i can make him into a civil and model student with my tutoring, and I won´t betray his faith"

Kakashi opened his visible eye and faced her sadistic look with an aloof expression –"You sure seem confident about that, despite what he did back there .. well, i hope the kid survives it".

Her look returned to normal –"What do you mean with that? He showed skill back there, and crazed because of Kurenai-chan´s genjutsu he was still capable of even more, but ..".

Hatake Kakashi closed his book, subtly pointing a finger to his covered eye –"there isn´t any bloodline limit which gives you that kind of skill on its own, nor two or three different chakra signatures".

Anko started to hesitate, but she hid it well –"The Hokage took him in, and perhaps he was trained on some minor shinobi village ..".

The veteran shinobi shook his head –"He doesn´t have any shinobi training. Please don´t take this the wrong way Anko-san; and i´ll keep all of this a secret, but as an ex-ANBU captain and as a full-fledged Jonin i have been sent to engage in battle beings even more bizarre and dangerous than those from your normal summon contracts, they are summoned by these Eldritch acolytes that have been roaming around and looking for something they call *Necronomicon*. These creatures defy even our most basic understandings and knowledge about our world; such as things like: *One self, a single soul; two forces gathered around it. One from the body and the other from pure spirit, like twins; coalescing and giving off a single feel: a chakra signature*".

"I´m sorry, but the boy is one of them"

Uzumaki Naruto was filled with expectations for today; after the classes for today were finished he went straight towards the Hokage´s tower.

'A bloodline limit of my own!, well, not really .. But still it´s a skill from one of them, I wonder what other stuff this Dream cycle thingy does'- he entered the vestibule of the tower at the same time that Yagan was closing behind him a door near the entrance and leading to the basement, narrowly missing each other.

On his way, he found the kind Hokage´s assistant and greeted her briefly. Then, he walked up the stairs and ignored the weirdly dressed kunoichi staring shell-shocked at another shinobi across from her with white hair, combed in what he thought was a funny way.

Reaching the door of the Hokage´s office, he knocked and waited.

After a few minutes, he heard a voice coming from inside that told him he could enter; and so he did, while a heated argument started behind him.

"Good afternoon Naruto-kun, how are you today?"- Sarutobi Hiruzen made a gesture to welcome Naruto, so he could sit on a chair beside the one where Shibara Jin was sitting, and drinking some tea. The door completely silenced the noise from outside when it closed.

"Good afternoon Hokage-jiji. Today it was fine, the classes a little boring like usual"- Naruto then turned towards the acolyte, and they also greeted each other.

"Well Naruto, today i´m very busy so we should start early with the surprises; although we may have to leave the issue of your rune for another day"- the Sandaime said in good humor while gesturing towards Jin, who unsealed a thick and old-looking book from a storage scroll and put it on the table.

"First, we are going to assess your capacity to enter the state of trance known as the dream cycle"- Shibara Jin opened the book facing him, looked for some writing utensils and then pointed to some of the drawings on the book –"With your eyes closed and focusing only on your breath, i´ll try to induce the trance on you and then quickly pull you out of it. This will refresh any memories that you have collected in that state up until now; then you will try to describe the monsters that you have seen while on it with as much detail as you can. The easier this is done, the more powerful your ability turns out to be at the moment".

"Afterwards i´ll teach you a Jutsu and some other alternatives that will allow you to sleep without entering the dream cycle. And then it´s time for me to explain to you what the uses and implications of this new power within you are. Let´s begin when you´re ready".

The young Jinchuuriki looked first at the Hokage, who nodded towards him; and then smiled towards Jin –"I´m ready. Let´s do this, Shibara-san!".

The wizened holder of knowledge that perhaps was meant to be forever forbidden to humanity got up from his seat, and with poise and grace took a stance with his hands hovering over the face of the child, who closed his eyes and started to nod off.

Meanwhile Jin continued with the preparations in order to induce the trance in Naruto, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew he had to proceed with his plan; and so he grabbed a shining orb from his robes –'Elder goddess Shion'.

The atmosphere in the room shifted in what was becoming a familiar way to him, and the warm feminine voice could be heard only by him.

"_These days we both have been quite busy, don´t you think?"_

The leader of shinobi could tell that the entity helping him was in a good mood, and he could guess why –'That´s right. So, should I take that you have been doing something else to Yagan-kun. I hope he can be more independent later'.

The ethereal voice now seemed amused –"_Keen as always. As you can probably already tell, since yesterday I had set his mind into a sort of overdrive over his race´s already extremely swift train of thought; mainly enhancing his memory so he could finish learning the language sooner and start to really catch up. He´s likely to sleep for an entire day after it wears off; however all of these helps from me are just temporary measures"._

Its tone then turned more subdued –"_There´s a good reason for all of this. I know that you´re still getting around to understanding all of these revelations; but as you suspect, i have simplified a few things during our first meeting through using words with ample meanings. You know that my temple and sanctuary isn´t located on this world, but you still don´t comprehend that with *another world* I meant another whole universe where History itself went about differently. Perhaps, it would be best if the *stargazer* explained about the multiverse to you"._

"_My point with this is that for the mere event of my descendant and me to arrive here, power greater than what you could ever understand was required; and even though I don´t know in the slightest who did this, I can guess that it was a being of similar nature to mine: like one of these so called *Outer gods*, *Elder gods* or *Ancient Ones*. It´s only speculation at this point, but if this was so then there´s a chance that you and yours will soon need all the help that you can get in order to survive an alien intellect that has probably being causing all sorts of tragedies on this world already"._

"_The Eldritch knowledge brings about Truths that shatters reality itself. It would recognize me as one of the embodiments about the Truth of the Self. On my debt and purpose i shall attempt to protect your kind from what I believe I can; helping yours against the possible onslaught of beings not belonging to this *Chakra* world"._

Sarutobi Hiruzen remained in a contemplative mood for a while after hearing that -'I see, your assumptions would explain much of the chaos currently going on across all of the Elemental Nations; Nevertheless, even if i´m truly thankful for your cooperation I don´t think that Yagan, despite your hurry in readying him, would be able to make a difference on a problem of this scale'.

When hearing this, the Mother of the _Vengy_ race adopted a confident outlook –"_Even with their basic abilities being a far cry and echo of those of my own manifestation, it would be beyond ludicrous to think of him alone being able to face an intellect such as this. No, his help would be significant but could only be marginally helpful at best; also, you should know i´m not without my own advantages. Between the two of us i think that our side has got considerable support_".

The Sandaime now felt more reassured, and so he decided to continue with the scheduled proceedings -'I have noticed that you seem to be deeply mindful of the limits of Human understanding'.

'This doesn´t matter for now, but It´s about time for me to start counting on your direct support with the situation here'.

"_I can tell that you have definitely chosen to follow through with our plan to the end. Am I allowed to proceed with my prodding in order to see if i can set up the blockers for the marks inscribed on the two of them?"_

He was about to give his consent, when suddenly he remembered that there were other things to take into account -'Please wait!. I want you to perform these examinations and set up the blockers without Naruto noticing you, or the Kyuubi stirring, if at all possible'.

Hesitation started to be felt coming from the voice -"_Setting those up without the Bijuu or the Uzumaki child noticing my actions and possibly even seeing me .. It sounds impossible, however i´ll see what i can do_".

**- Space inside the Trigram seal put on Uzumaki Naruto. Inner plane. –**

The agony caused by the power of the cursed _Sharingan_ had subsided a long time ago, however the creature of legend still hasn´t managed to be able to completely heal itself, gather thoughts or even return to some degree of awareness; all of this because of what the powerful seal had done to it, and the corrupted attack that had shattered its very being.

Time had become meaningless; but that only lasted until a careful and gentle touch caused the smallest of ripples on the dark calmness. This minuscule wave was even smaller than a previous disturbance that has already occurred very recently and had went ignored.

Despite of this, the creature in question was a Bijuu: a being of spirit with a pure will and the strength of an existence from before the Age of Shinobi. This will was actually the strongest part of it/him, and it rejected the foreign and warm touch.

'How dare someone come before me when i´m like this?'- The thoughts gathered in a slurry way, but they managed to come to the forefront and start to light up countless elements which made it/him up, the strongest of its/his kind.

Merging and reconnecting, these elements were the parts which were quickly being summed up to form the greater whole, that indignantly had started to ferociously tussle with every ounce of its/his will, all in order to regain his perception of the world. Despair starts to settle in, when all efforts were proving futile.

'GRRAAOOOW!'- Its/his struggle redoubled, fueled by rage; it/he would fully awake and nothing would stop it. A low cracking sound suddenly was heard in the dark; a hazy and obscured form starting to be seen, standing on the inside of its cell and in front of it/him!. However, its/his senses abruptly relapsed and left him in absolute obscurity again.

This was more than even it/he could take; and so the Beast of legend viciously lashed out, even with its/his senses still obscured, and blindly pounced on the fool who dared to come before it/him in such a situation.

Slit pupils surrounded by an ever-expanding inferno became able to see again, and gazed over the would-be prey.

From between bared large and sharp teeth an ominous growl was let out upon the laying form of a beautiful green-eyed woman wearing a long silken green dress. She serenely looked at it/him with a soft smile while her gut had been impaled by one of the huge Kyuubi´s claws. Her crimson blood staining the flooded-floor of its/his prison with midnight-black tinges.

The Nine-tailed Bijuu could feel the bizarre almost mechanical presence coming from the woman-shaped entity before it/him; which even with a thin trail of blood dripping from the side of its/her mouth, managed to evoke intense feelings of drifting away towards a shadowy embrace.

How could such an ever-longing and seductive abomination possibly be real?.

Brusquely, the Kyuubi remembered the last time it/he felt anything remotely familiar; and the likely nature and perhaps identity of the entity currently on its/his grasp was made clear. And so, it/he briefly searched for any star overhead. Nothing was found.

'_You recognize something like me, but at the same time very different _'- Just after the feminine and soft-spoken voice was heard, the Kyuubi no kitsune tensed and pulled at the body on its/his grasp, dragging it closer and worsening the critical wound.

"_**And you dared to come here. If you don´t tell me right know what you are supposed to be, i´ll devour you"-**_ The great Fox growled in answer.

Disturbingly enough, the face of the woman didn´t show any hint of pain or fear, just the same ever-present patient and soft smile –"I´m known simply as *Shion* by the majority who have ever seen or heard me. And while some would say i´m an Elder goddess; you as the mighty Kyuubi have nothing to fear from a *progenitor* such as me".

"_**You awoke me while trying to do something to me, EXPLAIN YOURSELF!**_"- the demonic voice rumbled, unleashing KI that would have killed most Jonin instantly.

Weakly, one of the delicate-looking arms stretched and a dainty hand pointed towards the outside beyond the prison bars. Sitting with his back against the opposite wall, the sleeping form of Naruto was burning with ethereal and very faint green flames. This harmless fire gradually vanished while the Bijuu was looking at him. Its eyes then refocused on the being below, taking notice of the seemingly corruption that it/her blood seemed to be causing.

"To move this avatar of mine here, this seal didn´t mean an obstacle at all. I´ve come here because you and he fell victim to a terrible runic curse in the outside world; and I was easily convinced to set up a temporary blocker to its effects on both of you, as I just did without issues on young Naruto".

"This rune slowly affects your mind until you develop a condition that will most assuredly break both of your minds. If you don´t believe me you could look for these changes on your own mindscape"- Shion then returned her arm to her side, and waited.

To say that the Bijuu was utterly shocked would be an understatement. Even then, it/he didn´t let it show and went into a deep meditative state in order to check its/his own mind and also what he could of Naruto´s. Worry started to settle in when he realized that some of its/his own constituents were shifting ever so slightly, and no matter what he tried this didn´t stop. A quick examination of Naruto revealed that this situation also was occurring within him; although some sort of ethereal safeguard had been placed around his whole mind.

Additionally, it/he was surprised when it became evident that the parts of it/him that were in contact with the taint of Shion´s blood on the water were healing far more quickly. More food for thought.

After finishing his contemplations, the Kyuubi concluded its/his meditation; and finally released Shion from its/his grasp –"_**It seems like you speak the truth, and also you have an ongoing technique healing me. Why do you do this without making a deal first? What do you expect from this?**_".

Getting up, the unreal woman put a hand over the bloody hole over her stomach; and absentmindedly started to torch herself with restorative jade-green flames while speaking –"Deals made out of plain necessity lack in meaning to me. The current Hokage allowed me to do this, and so I did. The speeding of your recovery was simply to ease a favor that I wish to ask of you, refusing it will not cancel this unless that is your desire".

A brief chuckle rumbled from the insides of the legendary Kyuubi –"_**Indeed; it would be so hard to betray you outlandish beauty, when any minor reasons to do it aren´t likely to make the cut**_".

It/he then lowered its/his head to rest over its/his paws while sporting a terrifying sharp-toothed grin -"_**I can´t say that I understand or approve of this apparent altruism you have going on here. Nevertheless, after you tell me what enabled a being such as yourself to reach the world outside of this seal you can ask away".**_

It/her body already completely healed and with her dress almost completely stained red, Shion faced the cunning being before her –"I don´t know if you will comprehend this. I´m *connected* to each and every one of my descendants, and one of them was dragged by an unknown from the Void between universes to this *Chakra* world around twelve years ago".

"I would like for you to return to your sleep, and focus on regaining your full power here with the utmost haste. Also, upon awakening I want you to be the most attentive that you possibly can at the events surrounding Naruto and yourself. This is urgent; and i will say no more about this, it will be up to you what to believe".

The grin vanished from the face of the Kyuubi, and only after thinking carefully for a while gave its/his answer –"_**Will do. Let me guess, you also want to set up the blocker on me?**_".

Upon seeing her nod to it/him, the Nine tails continued –"_**I accept, but i´ll want to talk to your descendant here at some point in the future**_".

At that Shion´s expression turned stern, and she shook her head –"Unless it´s unavoidable, I refuse to allow that. Will you want the blocker still?".

The supernatural and the unreal beings stood in the darkness, unflinchingly staring at each other. The Kyuubi, trying to cow Shion with the weight of its/his presence and will. The alien goddess, enduring and resolute like an unmovable wall.

At some point the Bijuu realized that the bizarre presence coming from Shion had shifted. It/he could somehow feel it gathering like a storm, protecting something outside of the seal.

The Kyuubi no kitsune grinned again, it/he could identify this instinct –"_**Just for asking a simple meeting you get this way, and look at me as if I was the most dangerous stranger you´ll ever meet. Don´t be afraid my little goddess-hen**_".

"_**Anyways, poor old me is so hurt and tired, i´ll have to humbly accept your *gift***_"- The Kyuubi kept his demonic grin while facing the otherworldly woman-figure before it/him.

Shion could only shake it/her head at that, and adopted a slightly dejected mood –"I see that you placed your bet onto me being obliged to do this for you because you would be *needed* later. **No one** is ever *necessary* nor *indispensable* at all, before the forthcoming Twilight. On the other hand; I am reluctant to let you speak to my child, at least for now. Both of us do this because of the same reason, we don´t wish to risk what´s important to the *unknown*, to the *stranger*".

It/she then returned to her usual expression while facing the Bijuu –"Perhaps we´ll know each other in the upcoming years. Meanwhile, i´ll set up your protection".

Right after saying this, a floating white ember was released from it/her cupped hands. It slowly flew towards the head of the Kyuubi, who accepted it with closed eyes.

The ember was absorbed between the eyes of the Bijuu, faint green flames then engulfed it/him whole for a moment; subsiding almost immediately after.

The two beings now looked at each other in silent surprise; it was the legendary Kyuubi who broke the silence.

"_**That didn´t do anything at all**_".

**- West area of the Black Woods, around 170 kilometers to the west of Konohagakure.-**

Sunset on a forest such as this one, the corrupted work of the first Hokage Senju Hashirama, was truly an unnatural experience. Trees and plants of all kinds showed stems and trunks which seemed transformed into coal; and what little light was filtered from the still green abode upwards was absorbed by the abundance of such dark colors. This, together with the scarce wildlife in the area, added to the eeriness of the cursed place.

Four shadowy figures quickly bounded between the branches of the tallest trees, until they arrived at the clearing where they would have their expected meeting.

"Damn that shithead! He keeps derailing us with his fucking stupid tasks"- The kunoichi of the team *the Sound Four* was progressively getting more nervous with each of the special tasks that their most recent client had been demanding of them; from bringing him civilians to mark with one of his wretched runes, to the forcing of her entire team to eat human flesh whenever he could make them do so. Now, not only was her team supposed to collect the payment for the alien egg; but also they were to set up an unusual rune that would allow the transport of one of the resurrected body from their leader Orochimaru-sama, it would be given as part of some obscure deal to the same person who bought the egg.

Her teammate with the four arms, Kidomaru, jumped to hide besides her –"Stop being so hysteric Tayuya! Jeez .. all the better for me to not having rejoined the merry band until now".

The red-head who had been keeping track of her other two teammates abruptly turned to yell at him, but had to interrupt herself when she heard a distant clattering: like the one a bag full of scraps of metal would make, while being dragged over the ground.

The entire shinobi team tensed, and Tayuya made some hand-signs to communicate that she would take a look and try to push the interloper in the direction of their ambush/meeting site. Quickly but silently she bounded in the approximate direction they had come from, where the clattering sound was heard.

'Damn! there´s no good cover this high and far away, and over there there´s nothing but withered grass .. '- She resolved to scout from her current position.

For a short while there was nothing, but then she could detect something moving slowly through the healthier bushes that were farther away.

'I can´t aim at it from here; luckily I think it´s coming this way, just be patient and .. '- she prepared a spread where she knew the thrown kunai would reach first and behind whatever it was, and the shuriken from above would restrict .. -'WHAT! It can´t be!'.

From the bushes, a familiar but unexpected sight poked its spade-shaped head. It had the shape of some kind of snake, around 5 meters in length, with lizard-like forelimbs! And with a skin that, to some extent, resembled the bark of the dark trees surrounding the kunoichi. A long time ago she had encountered a child-monster who had ridiculed her, she assumed; and it was only later that the files given to her by Orochimaru would tell her that these shady creatures belonged to him.

She composed herself and smiled; she was sure that she would have her fated encounter soon, and finally strangle the nosy brat.

**- Four years ago: One year before Orochimaru first became interested in the Child of the Black woods –**

_The sound of beautiful music filled the air and carried on the briny wind; the melancholic chimes coming from a glade in the northern area of Waterfall country, just a hundred kilometers from the coast. Tayuya sat on a stump, playing her melody under the starry night sky. _

_Even though there wasn't anyone from her team listening to her composition, she played all the same. This was something she wanted to do; for it was the only time she could afford to let out her true feelings: the diluted anguish over the grandmother that had pushed her away, her anger at the employer who had betrayed her expectations by giving her a power that was also a slave collar on itself, the losing grasp on her sanity, the emptiness and sadness at being so alone._

_The stress that had been building within her, from the almost inhumane demands from her *master* and the thinly-veiled contempt of her teammates, had added a strong hint of desperation to her tune._

_Standing up, her crescendo reaching the end; she spun on her heels and reached the finale, keeping her silver flute pressed against her lips and holding onto the last note, until her breath and craving to finally let the tears fall were exhausted._

'I needed that .. but I won´t give those bastards the pleasure of seeing me cry'- _she quickly regained her composure, and took a moment to just let her emotions wash from her._

_Not half a minute had passed, when a barely audible and slow clapping sound could be heard; it almost raised her hairs on end. Shocked, she tried to find her hidden listener on the darkness around her. Only when she focused hard enough she recognized the immobile silhouette crouched on a high branch._

_She saw how it started to slowly, hesitantly she would say, descend from the tree on all fours like a squirrel or something similar. Just when she was about to yell at it in embarrassment she noticed what it was: a small child, with tears running from his awe-stricken face, seemingly in a trance and moving silently and more like some sort of animal. His presence alone somehow evoking an unfamiliar feeling of uncertainty within her._

_The boy suddenly seemed to regain his senses, and regarded her with a look she could barely stand while placing a clawed hand against his exposed chest -"No home. Our disappointment. Agreha jen ehse ghera jen ghan'ottem / couldn´t we regain what we have lost?"._

_His body and voice were trembling –"Run, fight or what?! Alone forever?!". The alien-like being composed himself with a deep breath, before looking at her with a desperate and hopeful gaze –"This, you just told me; voice like Mother´s"._

_With the same gait as before, the boy approached her some more and offered a bunch of wild flowers on a stretched arm, with some sinuous *marks* on it and other parts of his body, while lowering his head to hide his slight blush –"Take from me. Mother says you forgot, *you can remember with me how to end it*"._

_Never before in her life had Tayuya been as baffled; as the small child had started to talk with that foreign accent of his, she realized that he had somehow grasped the feelings on her song with frightening accuracy -'_It can´t be! This dipshit must be using some sort of jutsu or trick'.

_This thought, combined with the clapping she heard before and the rest of the actions of the strange boy; including the fact that he had seen the few tears she failed to hold back, were quickly filling her with embarrassment and indignation -_'This little bastard just applauded and offered me flowers over ..! IS HE MOCKING ME?!'.

_Incredulous, she walked slowly towards him; and it was then when another misunderstanding would mean the last straw for her: his slight blush and his attempt to hide it -_'THIS ASSHOLE! HE IS HOLDING BACK HIS DAMN LAUGHING FIT!_'._

_One of her eyes twitched, and a silver slash from the drawing of her kunai caused small white petals to fall to the ground together with drops of blood._

_The child yelped in pain and swiftly jumped back to a tree branch, and looked over his shoulder; while she didn´t stop screaming obscenities at him. However, when she attempted to follow him, Tayuya had to come to a halt when a shuriken abruptly came to get stuck in front of her right sandal -_'That twitch of hand, it was him! What kind of throw was that?!_'._

_It was with unseen tears on his eyes that the unknown boy held the wrist of his injured hand and vanished back into the darkness._

**- Present time. West area of the Black Woods-**

She had barely finished the remembrance when abruptly the peculiar snake-like monster raised its head to look at her direction, a large leather backpack hanging from its shoulders.

'Crap! Just how .. '- She then noticed the strands of her own hair, now moving according to the downwind position she suddenly had found herself.

'At this distance, and it fucking recognized my smell! '- She threw her spread at the retreating form; but only her shuriken managed to graze it, its tail deftly slapping away the kunai in midair.

While the sinuous dash of the monster carrying the crude knapsack took it under the cover of the bushes, Tayuya quickly used her flute, a last resource at such range. It seemed to not have any effect, and the creature disappeared into the thick underbrush it had come from.

'Hmpf!; well if those morons got it right, killing that thing would be useless anyways. Originally it was moving towards that village of suckers; at least I now know where he is'- she hurried to return to her teammates.

She found them gathered in the clearing, together with a Shinobi in a black uniform and wearing a plain white mask 'ROOT'- she thought, and the approached them.

Sakon confirmed the ID numbers the ROOT shinobi was showing them, and then turned towards her –"What took you so long over there?".

"It turned around and ran. We´d better not risk it and get out of here, I think i´ve been spotted"- she then turned towards the Konoha Shinobi, and made a hand-sign to the others (i´ll go into detail later) while talking –"You! take us to the secret shelter where we are supposed to continue this".

The ROOT agent nodded and led the way for the entire group, making long leaps across the giant and tainted trees.

On the way, he spoke to them in a clipped and low tone of voice –"The parchment with the instructions about how to put the *tracker*, *paralysis* and *self-destruction* runes on the bought Eldritch beast had already been received".

"Also, taking into account that lately communication had been getting difficult; my leader would like to know if some of you could stay longer at the shelter as a relay to also use the transport rune, or if you have some sort of technique to compensate. In exchange; we can give information on the known Eldritch acolytes currently on Konoha, and even possibly help to set up the one we have targeted as a more lenient temporary leader to your group".

The Sound Four looked startled for a moment, but then Sakon answered –"I´ll have to ask our leader about that; but about the acolyte, isn´t he the same we are tricking with the resurrected body and then forcing through incrimination so he joins Orochimaru-sama, and your leader gets rid of him".

The ROOT Shinobi slightly turned his face on his direction, answering in his ever-present monotone –"The very same, the follower of the Great One which answers to the call similar to his surname: Zho-Khalar-san".

* * *

**A.N: **Hi again and sorry for the time it took to complete this update, i had been finishing my undergraduate thesis and been busy with many other IRL issues.

That said, i hope you enjoyed this chapter; only a couple more chapters are left so we can see what became of the cannon events after all of these changes in the original story. Expect my OC´s to lose *timescreen* as their supportive role is consolidated and things happen.

If you have ideas about what i could add or some other point to improve, please don´t hesitate to leave a review so this and other stories i have been planning can get better and and more interesting :).

Until the next time with Ch: 6 **Drawing the blade.**


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